


Rules are Meant to be Broken

by RebaK1tten



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Peter, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Derek's pack is alive because, Epilogues cause I like them, F/M, M/M, Mpreg, Nothing Shown, Oral Sex, Peter's a big fat liar but that's not new, Rape mentined, Reunited and It Feels So Good, Scott McCall is a Bad Friend, Scott's a dick as everyone's pointed out, Season 1 happened and kind of season 2 but without Stiles, Slow Build, Stiles abused by Deucalion, Stiles has all the parts, Stiles was abused but he's getting better, Time Jump, babies! so many babies, but he's killed immediately, discussion of abuse but nothing onscreen, third gender omegas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-06-25 17:13:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 38,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15645279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebaK1tten/pseuds/RebaK1tten
Summary: Stiles is a pregnant omega with a dead mate and a baby.Peter is a new alpha without a pack and wants to get back to Beacon Hills.He's lucky his family is soft when it comes to mates and babies. Hopefully.





	1. The Argent's Plan

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so try to keep up!
> 
> Picture season 1 and 2 but without Stiles. Back in BH, bitten Scott, dead and resurrected Peter. 
> 
> So... Peter and Chris killed bad guys and got kicked out.
> 
> In the meantime, Stiles is an omega and has a less than ideal alpha. 
> 
> I have a whole bunch of head canon on this, so if anything's confusing let me know, it probably makes sense to me.

No matter how prepared you think you are, there’s always something that takes you by surprise. Sometimes, certainly not often, it’s a pleasant surprise. Like when you find out one of the alpha wolves is gone, apparently already dead.

Other times (most times) it’s an unpleasant surprise.

Chris and the other hunters prepared for this mission. The pack, with the pretentious name ‘the alpha pack’, are where they’re supposed to be. The hunters have gone over everything possible, reviewing and re-reviewing plans for who will enter where and when, what weapons each person will have, who will be inside, what rooms each of the werewolves will probably be in. Everything they can think of and then some things that would be unexpected.

Allison has turned out to be an amazing leader, and an expert in strategy. Not to mention how she kicks ass with her archery and can also literally kick someone’s ass. The steel-toed boots were a good investment.

In this case, they’re there to get rid of the alpha pack for good. It would be one thing if they were just killing off other werewolves, that’s really not for hunters to judge. But some packs do have humans and they’ll take those out, too. In the last territory they invaded, a small city outside of Boise, Idaho, three civilians who weren’t even aware of werewolves were injured and they killed an 80-year old woman. So now the alpha pack has made it the hunter’s business.

 

The hunters are deep in the woods in rural Washington, and they’ve surrounded the pack’s cabin with a line of mountain ash and wolfsbane. Allison signals the start of their assault by shooting a flaming arrow through a window, quickly followed by smoke bombs full of wolfsbane.

Gasmasks on, the hunters enter, splitting off the way they discussed. Their surveillance says the pack has four members at this point; another pack killed one of them, something unexpected, but welcome. As long as that alpha keeps the peace and doesn’t become a problem themselves.

The next couple of minutes are a flurry of humans yelling, wolves roaring and bullets flying. This is why they plan and why they practice -- to be sure they’re as fast, efficient and safe as possible. Chris is keeping track in his mind of where their men are, and how many wolves are still moving. Now, it’s just the alpha’s alpha, Deucalion, left alive and he’s backed into a side room, shifted into his very ugly alpha shape. He’s been shot several times, black blood leaking from each wound, but he’s still snarling, still standing and he’s certainly still fighting.

Then something happens that Chris has to say he didn’t expect; it’s something they did not plan for. Deucalion growls and swoops to the ground and when he stands back up, he’s holding a child. A baby, maybe a year old and he’s holding the child in front of him, half blocking his head and chest. He’s using a baby as a shield and Chris is, frankly, flabbergasted. He knew coming into this, the pack, and especially the alpha, the self-proclaimed demon wolf was not nice, but he never expected this. Most wolves, most packs, treat their cubs as though they’re made of gold. No matter whose child this is, as alpha, he should be protecting it.

“I got this, Dad,” he hears Allison say next to him and she has her arrow pointed towards Deucalion.

Chris can’t tell from where he’s standing how clear her shot is, but he knows she’s not going to shoot through a child just to kill the wolf, no matter how awful he is.

Before Allison gets a shot in and before the alpha can hurt them or the child, there’s a growl from outside the room and a young man throws himself at Deucalion, pulling the child out of his hands. “No! You leave him alone, you fucking fucker!”

Deucalion growls and swipes out a claw towards the man, but he’s rolled into a ball, the baby snug against his chest. The alpha turns and moves to rush towards Chris, but doesn’t get more than a step before he’s stopped by Allison’s arrow. Chris watches as Deucalion falls to his knees, his hands flailing as he tries to grab at the shaft piercing his forehead. It’s probably a minute before he falls backwards, the arrow still embedded in his head.

“Wolfsbane or not, steel in the brain does stop almost everyone,” Allison observes, putting her bow in the quiver on her back. “Even werewolves.”

Chris nods and turns his attention to the man curled up on the floor, arms wrapped around the wriggling boy, both whimpering. “You’re a wolf?” he asks and when the man gives a small nod he says, “Show your eyes.”

The other hunters are gathered in the room, guns all pointed towards him. “Please don’t hurt us, don’t hurt my boy,” the man says. He flashes his eyes and they’re gold – not blue and certainly not red.

Allison motions for the hunters to lower their weapons and they do; they don’t put them away and they certainly don’t relax, but there’s no longer five automatic weapons pointing at the pair. “We follow the code and we don’t hurt innocents, wolf or not. Don’t do anything to hurt us and we won’t hurt you or the child.” She squats down in front of him, out of reach for a human, but dangerously close, knowing how quickly a wolf can move. “My name’s Allison. What’s your name?”

“I’m Stiles. Well, it’s a nickname, but that’s what everyone calls me,” he says, cupping the baby’s head with his hand. “This is Noah, my son.”

“Well isn’t he adorable?” Allison smiles and leans forward, tapping the baby’s foot. “Hey, little man, hey, there, Noah, you okay?”

Noah turns and give Allison a grin showing four little human teeth and then he flashes bright yellow eyes. “Bott?” he asks, and looks between her and his father.

“That’s his response to most things,” Stiles says, kissing the boy on the head. He looks at Allison and says, “Now what happens? Is everyone dead?”

Chris nods and says, “The alpha pack is dead, yes. They were your pack?”

Stiles snorts and says, “If you can call them that, I guess. There’s no love lost, believe me.”

“Ennis wasn’t here; we were told he was killed earlier?” Alison asks. She’s still jiggling the baby’s foot with one hand, while her other hand is near the knife in her ankle holder.

“Yeah. He went out to scout some other pack in Oregon and he got killed. The rest were really pissed and since then they’ve been plotting revenge or something. Because no one is supposed to kill anyone in the alpha pack,” he says, rolling his eyes.

Allison moves slowly and sits cross-legged on the floor. “And your mate was one of them?” she asks gently. “I’m sorry, we didn’t know you were here at all. You or your son.”

“My mate? I guess you’d have to say that was Deucalion. At least he was the one who purchased me from the omega compound. Bought me just after I turned 18. Raped me, bit me the next day, got me pregnant. Yeah, my wonderful alpha mate.” His eyes flash and he buries his face in Noah’s fluffy hair.

Noah whines quietly and whispers, “Da? Bott?”

“I’m okay, sweetie,” he tells the boy, rubbing his face against Noah’s head, scenting him until they’re both calmed down. “So again – what now?”

Allison stands and says, “Give us a second, okay? Do you need a hand up?” She holds out her hand, and there’s no fear or concern on her face. Now she could probably get away if she needs to, and yes, she’s surrounded by hunters with guns, but still, Chris hates it. He hates seeing how she puts herself in jeopardy.

But Stiles takes her hand and lets her pull him up, keeping Noah secure in his other arm. When he’s finally standing, she turns to her father, eyebrow raised, and they both look at the swell of his belly. “You’re pregnant,” she says.

He snorts and says, “You’re observant. Yes, I am. Four months. Thanks to my wonderful alpha.”9

“Okay,” she turns to her father and jerks her head towards the door to the next room. “We’ll be right back.”

 

“So… thoughts?”

Chris takes a breath and scratches his beard. “Well, let’s see. We didn’t know about him or them, that’s for sure.”

“How did we miss it?” she whispers, glancing over his shoulder. A werewolf would be able to hear, but right now, their men are talking and baby Noah is babbling so maybe Stiles can’t hear their whisper.

Shaking his head, Chris says, “It doesn’t matter right now; we’ll figure that out later. For now…”

“We can’t leave them, we don’t want to create a new omega wolf. And one who’s pregnant with a baby besides.” She studies her father and says, “Do you know any packs, any trustworthy ones? Any that would take a pregnant, bitten wolf with an infant?”

“Only one I can think of as possible is the Hale pack. Between Derek and Scott, they’re both pretty much suckers for babies and kids.” Chris looks around Allison to check how things are going in the other room. “Assuming I can get Derek to listen to me. I didn’t leave Beacon Hills on the greatest of terms with him.”

Allison grins and says, “You’ll have to explain that a bit more to me. It can’t be just the UST.”

“UST?” Chris asks, brows drawn together in confusion.

“Never mind,” she answers, trying to tamp down her smile. “So we think they might take him? Them?”

Chris stands quietly for a minute before he starts nodding and grinning himself. “I have an idea. It’s a terrible, terrific idea and I think it might work. And get me out of a debt as well. Trust me?”

“Completely,” she says without a moment’s hesitation. “Now what?”

“Why don’t you help him get some stuff together so we can finish up and get out of here. I’ll go help the others get ready for the clean-up.” Chris checks his watch and waits for confirmation of the next steps. She is in charge, after all.

“How much time do you need?”

“Twenty, thirty minutes max to get the explosives in place. They’re all set, just need to place them and get the detonators set,” he answers as they start to walk back into the other room.

“Okay. I’ll help him with packing. It’ll also make sure he’s not alone, just in case he’s not quite as positive about this as he’s saying.”

 

Back in the main room, she looks at their workers and nods quickly. Time to get back on plan. “You guys get things going, we’re out of here in no more than thirty.” Turning to Stiles she says, “Okay, I’ll help you pack. Whatever you and Noah’ll need, as much as you can get in thirty minutes. I’ll help. Baby food, too, whatever you can think of.”

“Where are we going?” he asks, grabbing a small blanket from the back of a chair. She hadn’t seen it before. It’s soft looking, white with yellow and green ducks on it. Obviously a baby blanket if they’d realized it earlier. Not that it would have changed things for Deucalion.

“We’ll tell you in the car,” she says, hoping he doesn’t press right now because she has no idea what her father is planning. “First stop will be a motel. Let us clean up, get some food and get some sleep before we get back on the road.”

“Hmm, okay.” Stiles glances at her, still looking suspicious. She can’t blame him, but there’s no time to worry about coddling him just now. There’s plans and they need to stick with them.

 

It’s just under thirty minutes when they’ve packed as much as possible in the trunk and backseat of the car. Stiles didn’t have much, his clothes sit in a grocery store bag. There’s a few more things for Noah, including toys, blankets, and the contents of two drawers full of tiny outfits. Still, it’s not a lot. Baby food, formula, diapers take up more room.

“Anything else, or are we ready to go?” Chris asks, looking around. They dragged the bodies into the bedroom, with some extra explosives there. There’ll be found, of course, there’s really no way to completely eliminate evidence, but they don’t need to make anything easier.

“Just one more thing.” Stiles turns and goes back into the bedroom. “I hope it hurt, you piece of shit,” he hisses and kicks Deucalion’s corpse in the head. “Enjoy hell, you fucking fucker.”

Allison and Chris trade a look as he comes back out, picking up a diaper bag and pulling it over his shoulder. He picks up Noah, asleep in his combination carrier-car seat. “Okay, let’s get outta here.”


	2. Plotting with Peter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter meetings Stiles and a plan to go back to Beacon Hills is developed.

“Okay, so did I tell you how I ended up being asked to leave Beacon Hills?”

Allison looks at her father and at Stiles in the back seat. He doesn’t seem concerned about Stiles hearing, so she shrugs and says, “I know there was something with the pack and you said you’d leave. You never explained more.”

Chris shakes his head, and she sees him clench his jaw for a moment before he takes a breath and says, “Yeah, well. Beacon Hills, at the time was the usual, I guess. There was a wendigo in the preserve and we’d been hunting it.”

“Ugh, those are awful. What happened, was someone hurt?”

He glances over and huffs out an amused sigh. “Yeah, me. I got the shit kicked out of me, a couple of ribs broken. And surprisingly enough, Peter Hale came to my rescue. He pulled the thing off me, and pretty much ripped its head off.”

“Peter Hale?” She checks and when she sees Stiles listening, she turns back to her father, eyebrow raised. “The Peter Hale we knew back when I was in high school? Crazy killer Peter Hale?”

“Yup, that one. I was as surprised as you were, but for some reason he kept me from getting killed.”

She’s quiet for a minute, thinking back to when she was in college and he was still in Beacon Hills hunting and generally keeping the pack safe. “So it sounds like you do owe him something and knowing Peter, he certainly will be one to collect. But how does this work exactly?”

“Well, it’s more than that, of course. I get to the hospital and get patched up and then the next day I’m asked to go to Derek’s loft and debrief. Get there and I can hear the yelling from the parking lot. Apparently, Scott felt that killing the wendigo wasn’t right and so he and Peter and Derek are all yelling and wolfed out and…”

She sighs, smiling over her shoulder at Stiles. He’s rubbing Noah’s chest, humming quietly, but looks up at her, face completely blank. “Oh yeah, I remember. ‘We can’t kill anyone or we’ll be like them.’ What happened when you said Peter only killed it because it nearly killed you?”

“That apparently didn’t make a difference. Scott ended up yelling how both Peter and I should leave because he couldn’t stop killing and I couldn’t stop him from killing. Or didn’t want to, which in this case was very true.” He sighs and says, “So we both left; he left a few days before I did and then I took off and found you, queen of the hunters.”

“Who is Scott? I thought you said Derek is the alpha in the pack.”

Chris looks in the rearview mirror as Allison turns around to answer Stiles’ question. “Scott is Derek’s… I guess second in command. He’s a bitten wolf – Derek and Peter are both born wolves.”

“He’s a good kid, he means well, I guess,” Chris says, shrugging. “But Scott’s a little bit black and white about things.”

Stiles chews on his knuckle, lost in thought. “Interesting. He’s a beta, but he’s able to yell at the alpha wolf and not get, well, killed?”

“Derek doesn’t run his pack like it’s a monarchy; he’s a bit more of a team with them. I mean, he’s the alpha and will act like it, but he’s reasonable about listening to their opinions,” Allison says, hoping that they haven’t scared Stiles. Somehow, the plan is obviously to get him into Derek’s pack.

“So, Dad, how does this pay Peter back? And how does it get Stiles and Noah in?”

He’s quiet, thinking this through and hoping it will actually work and that Peter will agree. “Peter’s an alpha – his gender – and so is Derek. Peter shows up with an omega who’s pregnant and has a child and says he’s taking care of them, has some story and Derek will let them stay.”

“And he would do this why?” Stiles asks, with his eyebrow raised. “Is he looking for an omega or a child or something? Is he going to try to keep Noah or something? You just said he’s killed people or things, but you think I’ll be safe? Maybe you should have left us where we were.”

Chris looks in the rear-view member, and tells Stiles, “You’ll be safe. Like I said, Peter’s gender is alpha and he’s also a wolf, so he’ll have a pack thing and an alpha thing. And he’ll do this because he’s wanted to get back to Beacon Hills and this can be his entry back in. All he needs to do is to show he’s taking care of you and then they’ll accept you both. I’m sure of it.”

“They don’t need to be mates?”

“No,” Chris says, shaking his head at Allison’s question. “An alpha taking care of an omega is a natural thing; they can’t not do it, especially since Peter’s a wolf and there’s a wolf pup involved.”

“And he can be trusted?”

“Yes. With an omega and a pup, he’ll be trustworthy. He had an omega, you know. Before.” Chris looks at Allison and she ducks her head, frowning, thinking of Aunt Kate and how many lives the woman destroyed.

Stiles sniffs the air and leans back in the seat, looking between the two. “I’m sure I’ll need to hear more about that at some point.”

 

“Peter? It’s Chris Argent, you have a minute to talk?”

“For you, certainly,” Peter answers.

Allison rolls her eyes at the phone and Stiles snorts quietly.

“Good. I’m hoping I can drop by and see you – me and Allison. I have a surprise and I think you’ll like it.” Chris’ smile is huge and, okay, it’s a bit of a smirk, but Hale does that to him.

“A hunter family comes for a surprise visit and you think I’ll like it. Doubtful.” He sighs as though horribly put out and says, “Yes, that’s fine. I can’t wait to see you, blah blah blah.”

Peter gives Chris an address to an apartment in Oregon. It’s closer than Chris expected, and actually on their way to Beacon Hills.

“We can be there tomorrow. I’ll ring you when we’re close.” Assuming Peter’s hum is an agreement, Chris hangs up and continues on his drive. “That went well,” he tells the car.

 

 

Peter must know there’s someone in addition to Chris and Allison, but when he opens the door to his apartment, he acts surprised.

“You said the two of you. You didn’t mention anyone else, Chris, but come in.” He steps back, taking an obvious sniff on Stiles as the younger man passes. “You brought an omega. Not yours, obviously. And he’s a wolf. Well, aren’t you full of surprises?”

“Yes. Yes to all of that. Stiles, this is Peter Hale. Peter, this is Stiles and his son, Noah.” Chris nods towards Stiles and finishes, “And as I’m sure you can see, there’ll be another child along soon. They’re going to be your ticket back into Beacon Hills.”

  


Chris gives Peter an abbreviated version of how they came to have Stiles in their possession and Peter just nods, asking only a few questions.

Taking a sip of wine, Peter studies the omega, and Stiles tries not to twitch. “So the alpha pack, all of them are dead?”

“Yes. I’m thinking no one will miss them too much,” Chris says and looks at Stiles’ smirk. “No one I can think of.” He pauses, filling his glass from the bottle Peter left on the table. It’s not doctored at all, so Peter’s drinking it for the taste; Chris isn’t a wine connoisseur by any means, but even he knows this is good. “I thought you said you had a pack or were at least aligned with one? Did that fall through?”

“Did you kill them?” Allison asks, drinking her own glass. She prefers whites, but this is good. “Or did they just kick you out?”

Peter takes the bottle and splits the rest between the three drinkers, making sure he has the most. “You’re right, no one should miss Deuc’s pack. I had a pack, a good one, where I was appreciated and they were…” He sighs, scrubbing his hand over his flashing red eyes. “The alpha pack, little Stiles’ pack, attacked us. I had some warning and was able to kill Ennis while trying to determine where they were and their plan. Then the entire pack came and attacked, killing everyone. Everyone in my pack. All of them dead.”

Allison leans back, cocking her head as she looks at him. “Except you? How convenient.”

“The only reason I wasn’t killed is I was away talking with an emissary, trying to figure out if there was a way to ward off the alphas.”

“Oh, sure. You were probably away hiding, being a coward.”

Peter’s eyes flash as he sets his drink on the table, hard enough to spill a little. “You’re looking so much like your Auntie Kate; are you going to start bleaching your hair, too?”

Before Allison can finish standing, Chris holds his hand out to her, looking at Peter. “Stop it, both of you. Are you willing to do it, Peter? Do you think you two can make it work and is it something you want to do? If not forever, then long enough so Stiles has a place he can settle and be safe?”

“Well, I do need a pack. I’m fine for now, don’t worry about that. My wolf…” Peter looks away, and Chris thinks the only time he’s ever seen Peter actually look this vulnerable is when he killed Kate.

He takes a breath, visibly steeling himself. “My wolf needs time to grieve, time to figure out what happened and become grounded. But I will need a pack. My own betas or a pack with betas around me. Being back in Beacon Hills, back with a pack I know will help until I decide where I should be.”

“Derek is the alpha in Beacon Hills. Will you be able to deal with that?” Ally asks and it seems a sincere question, no bite in it at all.

“I can if he can. As I said, I just need a place to regroup. Since we’re related alphas, it should work, at least for the short term. I can get an apartment there and we can keep out of each other’s hair.”

“What do you think, Stiles?” Chris asks.

“It sounds okay, better than trying to be on our own, I guess. I haven’t even been a wolf for two years now and there’s Noah and…” He pauses, wrapping both arms around his baby bump. “How would we do this? What’s the story?”

They’re all quiet, watching Peter. He knows his family and what’s expected from wolves. That, along with what Derek will expect from Peter, and he’s the only one who can determine the best plan.

“You were in my pack, the mate of our second, Stavros. There for a bit, obviously. We heard the alpha pack was coming, they’d issued a challenge. As the pack’s enforcer, I was asked to take you to an allied  pack to be sure you were safe. As the left hand, that would be something I’d be asked to do for the second; if you were the alpha’s mate, you would stay with the alpha even if there was danger. We’re gone, alpha pack comes in, kills everyone except us and we need refuge.” He pauses, looking at the audience. “Okay, that’s the plan. Blow holes in it.”

“Why would you, a known selfish dickhead, take care of an omega with another’s baby?” Ally asks and maybe she’s enjoying this a bit much.

“First, he’s pack and second, I’m an alpha and he’s an omega – they’re both instincts.”

Chris nods, understanding alpha instincts. It’s probably why he agreed to put Stiles in the backseat in the first place. “Why go back to Beacon Hills? Aren’t you leading the alpha pack there?”

Peter stops and thinks for a second before saying, “It’s fairly well known that I was booted out of my family’s territory. There’s no reason for the alpha pack to think I’d be welcomed back there. Especially not as an alpha myself.”

“Okay, that sounds logical.” Chris pauses, and thinks for a second for any other questions. “You think this’ll work?”

“You’re the one who suggested it,” Peter answers, shrugging. “I hope so; I don’t know why it wouldn’t.”

“You’ll need to be sure you smell like you’re pack,” Allison says. “Be sure there’s no scent from the alphas on Stiles. Can they scent the child? Is it on or in Noah, who his father is.”

Peter sniffs in Stiles’ direction, giving a genuine, soft smile at the pregnant omega with a sleepy baby in his lap. “If Deucalion was with us, they might be able to tell that Noah has his scent. With us together, they shouldn’t be able to. He smells like Stiles. And baby smell. It’s – pleasant.”

“What now?” Stiles asks, shifting Noah to the other side of his lap, closer to Peter. He’s barely put him down since they got to Peter’s, just dumping stuff off in a room he was told would be theirs for a few days. “What do we need to do for this?”

Peter huffs a sigh and scratches the back of his neck. “I guess… tomorrow sometime, I’ll call Derek and let him know what’s going on and be sure he’s not going to kill me the minute I cross county lines. And we’ll drive down. On the way down, we can discuss whatever we need to to be sure we have the backstory and enough history. We won’t be expected to know every detail, as we’re not mates. But basic info, backstory for you and Stavros, scent mixing, all of that.”

“We can do that? We’ll have time?” Stiles asks, brushing his hand over Noah’s head, scenting him softly. The scent of Deucalion will never totally disappear, but Stiles likes whatever he can do to wash him away.

“We’ll have a few days; assuming Derek’s okay, there’s no need to rush. After all, we aren’t being chased by the alpha pack.” He smiles at the boy and baby and says, “I think a couple of days here, both of you resting up, eating a few meals, getting a few supplies before we go – all that would be a good use of time.”

“I don’t want to have sex with you,” Stiles blurts out, making both Argents’ heads swivel towards him. “I know I’m an omega, and I’ll do it if I have to – but I don’t want to.”

“You don’t have to,” Peter answers, quickly, with a flash of annoyance on his face. “I don’t expect you to. You might be an omega and yes, I’m an alpha, but I am able to control myself. I know you won’t have a heat while you’re pregnant and when you have the child, you can certainly go on suppressants and birth control and whatever you want. You’re not obligated to ‘service’ me.”

“I won’t. If I have my way, I’ll never have sex again.” It’s bold and he knows his heart is pounding, but even if he’s ignored, he has to have his say.

“Okay by me. You’re basically my entry back to a pack and my family’s territory. Back home.” He turns to Chris and Ally and says, “So you’re both coming as well or not? Because I can’t think of a reason we hooked up. So to speak. You’re free to go.”

“No, we’ll head back north. I don’t think that Scott’s ready to forgive me yet; we’ll have to come up with something else,” Chris says, grinning as he thinks of the stubborn, turned wolf.

“You could set him up with Allison,” Peter answers, smirking as she frowns.

“No, thank you, I don’t need to do the werewolf boyfriend again. Anyway, last I heard, he’s with Kira.”

Peter stands and moves towards his kitchen. “Whatever. Staying for dinner? I’ll order in.”

Allison shakes her head and Chris says, “No, we’re going to get on our way. Assuming you’re both okay.” He looks at Stiles and raises an eyebrow. “You good?”

The younger wolf shrugs and says, “As good as possible, I guess. Thanks for killing everyone. Everyone except us, of course.”

“Glad to do it,” Chris says. He reaches out a hand to shake Peter’s and nods once more before he leaves.

Peter turns and studies Stiles. “Well, roomie. Or roomies. Why don’t you go and get comfortable in your room and I’ll order dinner. Then if you’re feeling up to it, we can run out and get some supplies. After all, we’re going on a road trip.”


	3. Starting Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and Stiles start to get to know each other as they get ready to go back to Beacon Hills.

Chris and Allison leave and Peter and Stiles are left alone – along with Noah – in Peter’s apartment. Peter hears the boy’s heart beat start to climb.

Peter walks down the hallway towards the bedrooms, stopping outside of his own. “Okay, roomie, first things first. I’ll get you some clothes and we’ll take everything from you and Noah and toss them in the wash. Get rid of the alpha smell, along with that lovely wolfsbane and gun powder scent.”

“What?” is about all Stiles can come up with.

“You smell. You both smell like another pack and fear and Argent’s car and a few other things I don’t like. So everything gets washed and you both get a bath or shower; I’ll let you choose on that.”

Stiles’ eyes flash and he immediately ducks his head. “Sorry. I can do that, I’ll get everything. You mean everything-everything?”

“Yes. Your things shouldn’t smell like another pack. And you two need to start smelling like me as much as possible. Remember, we’ve been in a pack together and traveling together for what – maybe two weeks or something.” Peter paces around the living room, staring at nothing as he makes plans. “We’ll be able to build some history when we’re driving down. We just need to make the physical part seem possible.”

When Stiles’ scent turns sharp, Peter rolls his eyes and says, “Good lord, not like that. We just need to get rid of wrong scents and make sure we smell like each other.” He goes into his room and comes out a minute later with a small stack of clothes that he hands to Stiles. “Put these on while your things are in the wash. I’ll wear one of your shirts tonight; even through the wash, it’ll still have some of your scent on it.”

“Okay, sure, I’ll get everything. Where’s the washer?”

“I’ll get a laundry basket and get things started. I can order dinner while you’re in the shower – Italian good for you both? Or you at least?” Peter calls over his shoulder, from inside his closet where he’s getting the basket. “Few of my things in there should help, too. Oh, and shower in my bathroom, that way you can use my soap and shampoo.” He checks on Stiles, looking at his belly as though he can see the baby whose heart is pounding. “Shower okay or do you want a bath? And what does Noah need?”

“I usually shower with him, he likes that. And a shower is good in case he…” Stiles shrugs and looks at his son, still in his arms.

“Pees,” Peter finishes for him. “I’ve had some experience with that. I’ve been peed on by babies more than once.”

Stiles wrinkles his nose and kisses Noah’s head. “Pee is much less disgusting than poop. Even a shower doesn’t help with that.”

“Okay, that’s not graphic, and what do you want to eat? Normally, I’d cook, but with things to do, I’ll order in. Italian okay? What would you like?” Peter pulls out his phone and starts tapping on it. “How about the squirt? He’s old enough for pasta, isn’t he? I remember Talia’s kids eating it like a famine was coming.”

Noah wiggles to get down, but that shouldn’t be the reason for Stiles’ scent turning harsh and nervous. “Thank you, anything’s okay, whatever you like. He does have some canned foods he likes, I can give him that.”

“Stiles.” Peter leans against the wall, waiting quietly.

“I don’t know, it’s hard to pick, it’s…” He buries his face in Noah’s neck and doesn’t look up when he says, “Deucalion was really obsessive about what I would eat. He said he wanted eight kids and if I had ten pounds I didn’t lose with each baby, I’d end up huge and…”

Peter snorts and approaches him slowly, carefully letting his hand stroke Stiles’ arm from shoulder to elbow. Gentle, and hopefully a bit comforting. “You’re pregnant, with an energetic toddler, and you should eat whatever you want. I’m thinking lasagna and extra meatballs. I think Noah might like to sink his little fangs into one.”

“He’d like that, if you don’t mind a little mess.” Stiles smiles and his scent relaxes, turning subtly sweet. “If it’s okay, he’d like buttered noodles. Any type of pasta, just butter and maybe cheese.  And I hope you don’t mind, he eats with his hands. I’m working on a fork, but it takes too long, or so he wants me to believe.”

“Sounds like a baby wolf with a plan.” Peter huffs and looks to the ceiling, taking inventory in his mind. “You have clothes, you shower, I’ll put your clothes in the laundry – no I’ll order dinner first, then laundry. Afterwards, we can discuss next steps.”

 

Peter places their order, much more than they can eat, but it’ll be leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Plus, he remembers when his wife was a young, pregnant omega and how much she could eat.  It’s probably best not to think too much about that time in his life, but being around the omega and baby, it’s hard not to.

He dumps laundry into the washer, unable to keep himself from checking out Stiles and Noah’s clothes. Stiles’ items look stretched out and worn. Not cheap things, but certainly not the top of the line Peter would want his omega to have. Noah’s items are a bit nicer, but that’s probably due to how quickly babies go through clothes; he probably outgrew things before they wore out.

Peter makes mental notes of things Stiles probably should have for the trip. They don’t need to get too much yet; since he’s still growing, he won’t be able to wear things for very long. The items he has are probably from the first pregnancy.

Without thinking, he rubs his chest, suddenly noting the threads of his pack bonds. Derek and Cora, so faint, but always there because they’re family. They may not be pack, but they haven’t written each other off yet. There’s also the thinnest of links he recognizes as the boy, the new omega. Well, that figures, it sounds like no one has been too nice to him and Peter will take care of him. It’ll help him, too, of course, but he’ll be sure the boy and his family are safe and as happy as he can manage. He’s an alpha, he can do no less.

 

After their bath and dinner, Stiles insists on doing the dishes and putting away the leftovers. “Peter, do you think tomorrow we can go to Target or Walmart or some place to get a few things for Noah? He’ll need some more diapers and he can use some more rompers. Would that be okay?”

“Getting some supplies is fine, I thought you both could use some extra things, some clothes. I have no idea where there’s a Walmart, but I do know where there’s a Macy’s.”

Stiles chuckles, glancing towards the hall listening to Noah snuffling in his crib. “I’m not sure Macy’s carries diapers, but I guess he could use a few more clothes. I’m sorry I didn’t grab more for him, but what with all the dead people and plans to blow things up, you know how it goes.”

Peter checks to be sure Stiles is okay and not too upset about the deaths around him before he says, “Well, I guess that’s a pretty good reason. We can get diapers or whatever you need from somewhere and clothes for you both. Derek’s pack will expect any pack mate of mine to be fairly well dressed, especially if we’re traveling together.”

“So you’re kinda pretentious? Your old pack knows that?”

“If they have any memory, they’ll remember I like the finer things,” Peter sniffs gently, and flashes his fangs. “What’s wrong?” he asks, seeing Stiles’ blush.

 “I’m just thinking I didn’t get a lot of things for myself when we were running out. I could use a couple of pairs of socks and some underwear if that’s not too much trouble.” He doesn’t give Peter a chance to say anything before he continues, “I can cook and I know I didn’t clean today, you did the laundry, but I can do that, or other chores, just let me know what you need.”  

Peter studies him, trying to get a scent on the boy’s emotions. He’s so back and forth and with that and exhaustion and the pregnancy, it’s hard to figure him out. “I knows some omegas like to cook and find that relaxing; I know I find baking to be relaxing. If you want to cook, I’ll be glad to get things for you, tell me what you need. But please don’t feel you have to.”

After a minute, Stiles shrugs and says, “I do like to cook, it’s relaxing to plan a meal and dice and measure things. I used to cook for my dad and it was actually something I didn’t hate at the omega home.”

“What do you like to cook?” Peter asks; he’s curious and it’s something he should know.

“I make pretty good chicken enchiladas. I like roasting the peppers and stuff.” He bites his lip, looking unsure and says, “My mother taught me to make stuffed cabbage? It’s a Polish recipe with ground meat and rice and vegetables. My dad liked it. I haven’t made it in a while.”

“Sounds good, actually. I traveled through Europe after college and tried a few different versions of it.”

“Maybe I can make it for you sometime. Or for our new pack, if you think they’d like it. Deucalion was pretty basic meat dishes; he wasn’t a big fan of vegetables, unless it was something roasted with the meat.” He rubs his stomach and suddenly yawns, looking surprised. “I’m sorry! I guess I’m more tired than I thought.”

“You know where your room is. Do you have pajamas, I don’t remember seeing those.” Peter adds that to notes he’s making in his phone on what they need to be sure they bring. He’s not sure how long they’ll stay in Beacon Hills, but even if it’s only for a short trip, he wants to make sure Stiles and Noah have whatever they’ll need. After Noah outgrows this batch of clothes, well, by then he’s sure the next plans will be made.

When he looks up, Stiles is asleep on the couch, so Peter just goes back to making notes about what they need to do tomorrow, the best route back to California and what to say (and not say) to Derek to get him to let them stay.  It’s not quite a couple of hours later when Peter helps Stiles to his bedroom. When he uses his shirt to cover Stiles’ pillow, he’s not surprised when the omega buries his face in it and quickly falls back to sleep. It’s either an omega thing or a pack thing, and either way, Peter can’t help but feel smug.

 

The threads are getting stronger. It may not be his omega and his baby, but he can feel they’re becoming pack.


	4. Shopping and Talking with Derek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What it says on the label, chief. 
> 
> Peter and Stiles go shopping and then there's a conversation with Derek.

The next morning they have a quick breakfast, just breakfast sandwiches Peter sticks in the microwave, before they clean up and go shopping. It’s supposed to be for Noah, but Peter’s determined to get things for Stiles as well. Noah’s in his carrier, a sling that Peter has across his chest. He’s comfortable holding him while Stiles hovers, looking concerned.

Peter raises an eyebrow, tickling Noah’s feet as he kicks and giggles. “I’ve held babies before, Stiles. I’ve grown up with lots of them in the pack. I had a wife before, and we had a daughter; they were both killed in a fire.”

“Oh my god, Peter, I’m so sorry!” Stiles steps towards him, tilting his head a little, offering comfort to a pack member.

Peter’s not sure if he was trained or if it’s instinct like it is for most born wolves. Stiles’ scent is honestly sorry and horrified, so Peter quickly assures him, “It was a long time ago and I’m okay – mostly okay -- but I appreciate your concern. Derek, the alpha of the pack we’re going to, is my only living relative who’s around. His sister, Cora, lives in South America. And he’s on and off about hating me. I’ll be happy if Noah decides he likes me.”

“He likes you. Even babies fall for your charm,” Stiles answers and turns away, but not before Peter sees the blush. Nothing special in his scent, but he’ll take it the same.

Peter tries not to smirk, directing Stiles around for clothes for both him and Noah, buying much more than Stiles is comfortable with. People smile at them since they look like a perfect alpha/omega family with one baby and one on the way.

“Peter, I don’t need all these shirts,” Stiles whispers, shaking his head. He tries to look at a price tag, but Peter quickly pulls the shirt away, holding it up against Stiles’ chest, before he rejects it for another color. “I can do wash, I did a lot with the old pack.”

“That’ll work when we’re at the new home, but for the next couple of days and the drive, we may as well have enough things. And again, the pack’ll expect me to over indulge a pregnant omega and baby.” He looks around the department and give Stiles a gentle shove. “Maternity jeans are over there, you need a couple more pair. Maybe a couple in multiple sizes.”

“Drawstring waists are good for pregnancy, you know,” Stiles mutters, walking backwards so he can smile at Noah.

Peter saves him for toppling into a display and snorts. “Those are for home in the evening. Outside, amongst civilization, my pack mates dress like adults.”

“Snob.” Stiles throws a pair of flannel pajama bottoms at him, not even checking to be sure Peter catches them. He’s sure he will.  

 

As they leave the store, Peter stops and turns, holding out his hand. “Give me your phone, I need to put my number in it, and then I’ll have yours.”

“Right.” Stiles pulls a phone the size of a deck of cards out of his pocket and hands it to Peter.

“It’s a little old,” Peter says carefully, turning it over while he waits for it to come on. There’s no password, but maybe that shouldn’t be surprising; Deucalion probably wouldn’t allow it.

“It’s for pictures, really,” Stiles says and his scent turns embarrassed as though he did something wrong. “I asked Deucalion for it so I could keep pictures of Noah. Show him stuff if he was gone.”

“Of course. I guess I might have thought he’d have his omega with the most modern things ever.”

“Well, it’s not like I needed it a lot. I wasn’t going to phone him, like, ‘Hey, alpha, I know you’re busy killing people and I’m already knocked up, but can you phone me when you get a minute? I want to know what color pillows you like.’” He scrubs his hands over his eyes and blushes. “Sorry, that was out of line, it’s…”

“It’s fine, I told you, I like a zing in an omega and that’s certainly you.” Peter clicks until he gets pictures and takes a minute with Stiles at his side looking at photos. They’re mostly of Noah, which is what Peter expected. There’s a few of Stiles in a hospital, newborn Noah in his arms. He looks exhausted, too thin and too scared for a newborn father, but still his pride and protectiveness come through.

There’s a couple of pictures with Deucalion perched on the side of the bed, smiling proudly as he sits   next to Stiles, holding his son. Peter hates him.

“You can delete that,” Stiles whispers, arm protectively resting on his baby bump. “I don’t need to keep those memories.”

“We’ll check the cloud, but we can keep at least one of these.” Peter holds the phone closer to his face and nods. “I’m pretty sure I can do a bit of Photoshop on it to look like it’s me instead of that asshole.” He checks Stiles and sees him smile. “I’m sure we can do enough for a quick look.”

“Okay. There’s probably pictures I can get rid of.”

“Or we transfer them to a laptop or something. You don’t need to get rid of any good memories, Stiles or ones you’re not ready to let go of yet. Certainly no pictures of Noah should be deleted,” Peter says, handing the phone back. “We’ll get you a newer model and then be sure we have each other’s numbers. Maybe take a few photos to make it look like we have a bit of history. Transfer some baby pics to my phone and that stuff, give you a photo or two of the pack. Pack would have pictures of each other, especially with a newborn in the mix.”

Stiles nods and puts the phone in his back pocket, shifting bags and giving his bump a nervous rub. “Whatever you think makes sense. Thanks, Peter.”

“Of course. Have to take care of a packmate,” Peter replies, grinning. He takes one of the shopping bags, and pats Noah’s back. The baby doesn’t even bother to wake up, he just chews on Peter’s shirt collar and falls back to sleep.

 

After a few hours, they get home and Stiles puts the baby clothes into the wash. Peter feeds Noah, telling Stiles that it’s good to get their scents to mix, and they’re supposed to have been pack, with Peter trusted enough to take Stiles to safety. “The pack will be able to tell by our scents mixed. We need to smell like we’re close.”

Stiles looks and smells skeptical and Peter rolls his eyes and says, “No, not that close. You’re the second’s omega; if I touched you inappropriately, he’d rip my arms off and beat me with them. Rightly so.”

“I might as well, I guess,” he says, nodding and he tries to let Peter take care of Noah. He only glances up occasionally as he chops things for dinner tonight and maybe he can get started with breakfast tomorrow. Being useful feels normal – it feels good and right.

 

The next day Peter decides it’s time to bite the proverbial bullet and call Derek. He’s got the exact script in his head, he’s got everything planned, wardrobe and location both thought out. He texted earlier to ask for some time on Skype and got a text back in about an hour, so that seems positive.

Derek wasn’t the one who necessarily wanted him to leave; apparently Scott and his squeaky-clean morals were just too much for Derek to fight. Scott said no killing, and he doesn’t consider self-defense. He doesn’t even acknowledge that Peter actually put himself in danger to save Argent’s life. All he saw was the dead wendigo and Peter covered in blood and the next thing he knows, Peter’s told he should leave Beacon Hills.

It’s not like he really wanted to stay. His nephew isn’t his first choice of alpha and with Scott as his second, there’s no need for a left hand. Well, of course there’s a _need_ for one, even more than normally, but Derek and Scott both say their pack won’t have one. It’s as though Derek didn’t listen to anything his mother or grandmother had said.

Peter’s hoping that Derek’s apparent reluctance to make his uncle leave is something he can use. It’s been almost five years and maybe absence has made his heart go fonder. He answered the text and agreed to talk, so there’s hope.

 

“I’ve heard of the alpha pack before,” Derek says, shaking his head and there’s what looks like sympathy on his face. “I’m sorry, Peter, that’s… horrible. What do you intend to do now?”

“Go on another revenge spree?” Scott asks, poking his head into view. “Kill them all for killing your pack?”

Of course he’d be there, Peter thinks, trying to keep from visibly sighing.  He plasters a fake smile on his face, and says, “While I’d certainly like to, and while they deserve it, I don’t have the time. I have other responsibilities on my plate just now.”

“Do you want us to get involved?” Derek looks concerned and Peter’s glad for that. “Do you need our help with them?”

“No, I think they’ll leave us alone,” he says, and glances over his shoulder and smiles as he hears Stiles rumbling around in his room, talking to himself and the baby. “My responsibility now is to the second generation of our pack. Which is where I need some assistance.”

Stiles picks that moment to walk in, Noah squirming against his chest. “Hey, alpha mine, did we leave a bag of diapers in the car? I swear he’s going through them at a startling rate and I don’t know if we’re going to need to get another couple bags.”

“I put the extras in the bottom drawer of the dresser, I hope that’s okay. I thought it would save space,” he answers, and can’t help smiling as Noah yawns, nose against Stiles’ chest, scenting his father.

“Is that? Who is that,” Derek asks from the screen, leaning forward as though that’ll help him see better. “Peter, is that… is he yours? Your baby, is that my cousin?”

Before Peter can ask why Derek would jump to such a conclusion, Stiles shoves Peter over and sits next to him on the sofa. “Yeah, I guess so. I mean, assuming you’re Derek and from the family resemblance, yeah that’s you.” He turns Noah towards the laptop and hold his arm, making him wave. “Hi, Derek, meet Noah!”

Derek’s eyes light up and he looks so soft and almost dopey, mouth slightly open with his cute little bunny teeth showing. Peter wants to roll his eyes, but there’s still a part of him that remembers his nephew as a cute child, always willing to help with the babies in the pack. “Noah? How old is he? Oh, and I guess, hi, yes, I’m Derek and who are you?”

Stiles laughs and scrubs a hand through his hair, messing it up even more. “Sorry about that. I’m Stiles, yes, it’s a weird name, but my real name is much worse. And this little bean is Noah, he’s just ten months old, aren’t you, baby?” He kisses Noah’s head, and turns to smile at Peter. “So do we have a plan yet, hon?”

In his unbiased opinion, rolling with the punches is one of Peter’s best traits. “We’re just discussing it, Stiles,” he says, reaching over to give Stiles’ hand a squeeze. “So you see, Derek, Scott, I have a few other priorities just now. We’re looking to get out of here and away from the alpha pack’s territory and thought maybe we could stay in Beacon Hills for a while.”

“And bring them to us?” Scott asks, quickly looking towards Derek. “Those are the guys you mentioned, right, all the alphas and they kill other packs to like, take their essence or something?”

“I don’t think they’d be following us or else I wouldn’t have suggested coming to you, Derek,” Peter answers, pointedly ignoring Scott. “I have to say, it is fairly well known you’re not my biggest fan, so if they were trying to find the one – ones – who got away, I doubt they’d look in Beacon Hills.”

Derek looks at them, and it seems he can’t take his eyes off Noah. Stiles tickles Noah’s tummy and he giggles, flashing his eyes and waving his hands in the air, showing his sharp, tiny claws. “He’s a wolf?”

“Of course,” Stiles answers quickly, flashing his own yellow eyes. “I mean, that’s normal, born wolf father number one and bitten wolf father number two. That usually makes a wolf, right?”

“Usually, I guess so.” Derek answers, pulling his attention from Noah back to Stiles. “It happened in my family – our family,” he corrects himself, looking to Peter. “My mother was born and my father was bitten. My little brother…”

“Daniel. The youngest, he was human. Perfectly normal in a pack and he was at least as fierce as any of the wolves in the family.” Peter reaches over and takes Noah, flashing his eyes before he scents him along the throat. “So yes, anyway, Noah’s a wolf. And no reason to believe this one won’t be as well,” he says, patting Stiles now visible belly. Peter can see Stiles push it out further as he rubs a hand over it. “Four months along. So as you might guess, there’s other things more important than a revenge spree, at least for now.”

Stiles pushes himself in to Peter’s side, nudging with his head until Peter wraps an arm around him. “For now, we need safety and a place to rest and recover with a pack. To be a family. To be _with_ family. Do you think we could…”

Peter wants to roll his eyes, wants to tell Stiles he’s laying it on a bit too thick, but damn if Derek doesn’t nod and smile at them. “Yes. Yes, you can both – all three of you – all four of you – come back to Beacon Hills at least until you have the baby. We’ll figure something out. How soon can you be here?”

This is a little faster than Peter expected, but he’s not going to let Derek think too much about this. “We can leave the day after tomorrow, get an early start and be there by dinner. Is that Best Western still open up the highway?”

“You’re not staying in a motel.” There’s a growl in Derek’s voice and Peter’s actually impressed that he sounds like an actual alpha. “We’ve got the packhouse, you can stay here. At least a couple of days or until you get an apartment. Not that you need to, you’re welcome here, but if you want to spend some time alone or if…” he sputters and looks away. “Anyway, you’re welcome to stay for as long as you need.”

Scott doesn’t look as sure, jaw doing that twitchy thing Peter remembers when he’s getting worried or what passes for worried in Scott’s head. “At least for a while, until you decide where you’ll go permanently. No other pack members survived?”

He looks away from the screen and sighs. “No. They targeted our pack and were mostly successful.”

Stiles leans his head against Peter’s shoulder, turning Noah so he almost has to wrap his chubby arms around Peter’s neck. Peter feels Stiles’ chuckle against his neck and on the laptop he sees Derek lean forward as though he can get closer to the family he wants. It certainly didn’t take long for Stiles to home in on Derek’s weakness.

“Well, you should come here and we’ll figure out next steps once you have a chance to take a breath.” Derek shoots Scott a look and Peter can’t help grinning when he sees Scott duck his head at Derek’s red eyes. At least the boy knows that much, finally.

“I’ll give you a call when we’re on the road. Thanks, Derek, I appreciate your hospitality,” Peter says. Just to be sure the message is sent, he gives Noah’s head a kiss while giving Stiles a quick squeeze. They’re family, see?

Derek smiles, a genuine one that Peter remembers from years ago. “See you soon.”

 

“So that went well.” Stiles takes Noah, rubbing his face on Noah’s belly. Peter can smell how their scents are starting to mingle, which is a good thing and is so necessary with the little play they’ll be putting on.

“Wh - what?” Peter sputters, whirling on Stiles, throwing his hands in the air. “What was that? What were you thinking?”

“He started it,” Stiles says, sitting his son on the counter and peeling a banana. He gives Noah a small piece, mashed in his fingers and looks at Peter. “He seemed anxious for a connection, so since he suggested it… You okay, you recovered really quickly?”

“Yes, well I wasn’t going to call you a liar, that wouldn’t be good, would it?” He grabs the banana from Stiles, breaking off a piece before he hands it back. “Now is a time when I wish I could drink. Still cannot believe you did that…”

Stiles snorts and tucks Noah against his shoulder while throwing out the peel and rinsing off both their hands. “I have to say, you’re very melodramatic. I know alphas are supposed to be big and, I don’t know, extravagant, is that the right word? Anyway, you’re kind of beyond that. Not very alpha.”

“You should talk. I thought omegas were supposed to be meek and not making up lies for an alpha’s family members.”

“Well, I thought alphas weren’t supposed to use their children as a shield in a battle.” He stops and his eyes go big as he covers his mouth with his hand. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, alpha, that was bad. See, my parents assumed I’d be a beta, so I was raised like a beta and…”

“Good lord, you have nothing to apologize for. Deucalion did that? God, I’d like to bring him back so I can kill him again. And don’t try to do anything that isn’t you. That would be noticed and I don’t like what’s supposed to be the “typical” omega. I think there’s some truth to the stereotypes of the three genders, but it’s not a person’s law.” Peter throws himself on the couch, putting his feet up, checking to be sure Stiles is looking calmer. “More things to plan. This will work, but we’ll need to determine how to play this.”

“I think Derek bought it all. You did forget one thing, though,” he says and looks up, flashing his yellow eyes at Peter.

Peter shrugs, flashing red, alpha eyes. “Oh yeah. Oh well, we’ll discuss that when we get there. Mate.” 


	5. Getting to Know You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little time at home before they head back to Beacon Hills. Two steps forward, one step back.

Peter’s not sure what wakes him up. There’s a noise from the other room and he has to see what’s happened in his den. It wasn’t too loud, but loud enough and different enough in his normally quiet house. He checks his clock and it’s just after 7:00, which is a good time to get up anyway. There’s still plenty of things to do before they get on the road, and if his nose is correct (and it always is) coffee is already made.

He comes out of his room, pulling a t-shirt over his head, and he sees Stiles in the kitchen, backed up against the sink. He’s holding a squirming Noah against his chest, eyes wide and Peter can smell the fear before he’s even in the room.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I was trying to make breakfast and Noah took off and hit some pans and I tried to stop him and …”

“It’s not a problem, it’s okay. It’s okay, Stiles.” He approaches with his hands out in front of him, smiling so Stiles can see his regular teeth and no claws. No alpha eyes, just a slightly confused person, fresh out of bed. “You can let him down if you want, I’m sure he wants to go back to crawling. Scooting.”

Stiles takes a breath and nods, his scent fading back to something calmer, although on alert. His scent is almost always on alert. Two steps forward, one step back. “Coffee’s made and breakfast will be ready soon. I didn’t start eggs, I don’t know how you like them,” Stiles says and rubs the swell of his belly.

“Why don’t you sit for a minute and let me finish up? Have you eaten yet?” Peter is careful to give Stiles some distance when he pours himself a cup of coffee. “Are you allowed any coffee? I have some teas, if you’d like. Without caffeine.”

“I can finish,” Stiles answers, but he’s already moving along the counter, at the same time checking for Noah, who’s out of the kitchen and towards the bedrooms. Peter’s right, he doesn’t crawl, he’s a butt scooter, and he’s fast.

Peter opens the fridge, pulling out a block of cheese and stick of butter. “Go sit. Do you like scrambled eggs? How about the squirt, does he like eggs?”

“Scrambled is good, thanks. He eats them. With his hands, if I let him. I know it’s kinda gross, but…”

“I’d expect no less from a ten month old werewolf. We handled Italian, quite literally in his case, so eggs should be easy,” Peter chuckles and reaches over to give Stiles’ shoulder a gentle rub. He’s an omega by gender and a beta wolf, so hopefully a gentle touch will help him calm down.

He does seem to relax a little bit with only a quick glance at Peter’s hand. Noah quickly gets his attention when he squeals in the other room. Stiles cocks his head, listening to be sure it’s nothing serious or dangerous. “Sorry, he gets rowdy in the morning before breakfast. I gave him a piece of toast to gnaw on, I hope that’s okay.”

“It’s all fine, please help yourselves, for both of you. Derek’ll expect you to be eating whatever you want, and giving Noah as much as he can eat.” Peter fixes two plates, and hands the one with more to Stiles. “Do you two share a plate or does he get his own? If he’s my child, I should know this.”

“Depends on if it’s something we’re both eating, then it’s usually a shared plate – it’s just easier.” He takes a bite of eggs and shuts his eyes, sighing. “You do good eggs, Alpha. I should probably go grab him before they get cold…”

“I’ve got him,” Peter says quickly, rising and going down the hallway, calling, “Noah! Time for breakfast!”

“Da da da da,” the boy babbles, reaching out towards Stiles the second he’s in view. “Ba ba?”

“Let’s try this first and then you can have your bottle.” Stiles puts a bit of egg on his fork, trying to get it towards Noah’s mouth, but he grabs it off the fork, putting most of it in his mouth. “Or that works, too.” He looks at Peter, and then lowers his eyes, using a napkin to wipe Noah’s face. “I’m sorry he’s so messy. We’re working on it, kind of. It’s my fault, really. Ennis hated watching him eat with his hands, so of course I let him.” He grins, earlier nerves mostly gone. “Oh, and we’re working on the sippy cup, but when he’s inpatient or anxious, he want his bottle, and I couldn’t take that away from him.”

“No need to apologize, he seems to be doing pretty well for his age. How about you, do you need more? There’s more bacon and I can put in a couple more slices of toast.” Between the two, most of the eggs are gone, but there’s still food left on Stiles’ plate. “You’re not still having morning sickness, are you?”

“No, I’m fine, thankfully that stopped. I’m just… I guess I’m not really used to eating a lot, you know?” He picks up a piece of bacon, taking a bite and tearing off a small bit to give to Noah. “Like, I said, Deucalion wanted a lot of kids, so he didn’t want me to gain too much weight on each one and then not be able to take it off.”

Peter tries not to flash his eyes, knowing that won’t help Stiles’ nerves. “Interesting. You’ll find I’m pretty much going to tell you to take care of yourself and both children and do whatever you need to do. I’m not an expert, but I think you should put on as much weight as you’re comfortable with or whatever your doctor says. Pregnant and with a toddler, I’d guess you’re hungry a lot – probably tired, too.”

Stiles watches as Noah grabs the last handful of egg and helps direct him so most goes into his mouth. “Chew, pup, chew.” He takes a piece of toast, carefully spreading jam from edge to edge, not looking at Peter. “This might take me a bit, and I know we don’t have a lot of time to get used to each other. But I’ll try to, to just go wild, I guess.”

“We’ll need to agree on how we got together. How old are you anyway?” He gets up to get himself some more coffee, bringing back the carton of juice to refill Stiles’ glass.

Noah waves at the carton and asks, “Ba?”

“That’s bottle, right? Should I get that?” Peter asks, turning towards the kitchen, where bottles and other items are already sitting on the dryer rack.

“It’s kind of his all-purpose word for food, at the moment, I think. There were a lot of child care classes at the center, but no lessons in speaking baby.” He wipes Noah’s mouth and hands again and just sits for a minute with his arms around his son. “I think he’s good for a bit. I’ll need to give him a quick bath and then he’ll probably want to play for a bit and then have a nap. Unless he just wants to nap.”

“Okay, let me know what I can do to help. I need to get with the routine.” Peter stands and reaches for Stiles’ plate, seeing his eyes go wide. “I’ve got this, Stiles, I’m fairly good at dishes. Sit.”

Stiles twitches in his seat, kissing Noah’s fluffy, dark hair and sitting him back on the floor. “I’m not used to not doing things. Deucalion wasn’t much for letting me sit around. If I wasn’t doing something specific for him, then I was supposed to help the pack. Cook and clean and stuff.” He shrugs and chews on his thumb. “I guess that’s typical omega through, right?”

“Maybe for some; I’m not surprised Duke would treat an omega that way, he was a traditionalist as a werewolf, too,” he says and then ducks down to snag Noah off the ground when he scoots past the kitchen into the living room. “You should stop for a minute, pup. Oh, and let’s change that diaper.”

“I can do that,” Stiles says, holding out his arms. “Please. You can next time if you want to, but…”

“You need to take care of him, he’s your cub, I understand. You get him and I’ll clean up in here and meet you in the living room, okay? We should get our back story straight and think about meeting the pack.”

Stiles nods, nuzzling his face into Noah’s neck. “Okay. Thank you, Peter.”

 

It’s about a half hour before Stiles comes back. In the meantime, Peter heard water running in the bathroom and remembers Stiles talking about Noah needing a bath. Peter will need to remember that – showers are fast, but normally Noah gets a morning bath, which makes sense with breakfast half in his hair.

“I guess he tired himself out before breakfast and then in the tub.” Stiles is about to lower himself into a chair at the dining room table and stops himself, looking over to Peter. “I want to ask you if I can get you something, I guess that’s a reflex. It’ll take me a bit to get used to you, sorry. No, not sorry. Sorry.” He covers his eyes with his hands, scrubbing his face as he chuckles. “Working on it.”

“We’ll say that our alpha was a traditionalist. And of course with our pack killed, and the baby and one on the way, you’re anxious. Understandable. It’s understandable if we’re both anxious.” Peter takes an obvious sniff and asks, “Do you think we should take a few days longer before we leave? We can do that.”

“I don’t know, it’s up to you. And that’s not an omega thing, that’s a you-know-your-relative thing.”

“Derek will probably expect us to act as equals, based on how omegas have been treated in our family. And based on how I treated my wife.” He falls quiet for a minute before looking back at Stiles. “We were mated for four years and had a two year old. There was a fire in the house, set by hunters, and they both died. I was hurt trying to get the family out, and ended up in a coma for several years.”

Stiles reaches out, and squeezes Peter’s hand. “Wow. I’m sorry. Deucalion wasn’t very concerned about hunters at all, I think he assumed they weren’t a threat, which, hey, irony.” When Peter doesn’t pull away, he turns their hands over, so he can thread their fingers together, instinct to comfort an alpha overriding all.

Peter looks up, trying to keep the surprise off his face, certain Stiles would pull away if it showed. He squeezes back slightly and nods, saying, “Thank you. It was a long time ago and I can’t say I’m sorry that Argent took out their pack. Eventually, he’d probably have turned to Derek’s pack and while we have no love lost, I still… Dammit, he’s still family and I suppose I’d hate to see him dead. Even though the little shit did kill me once.”

“Excuse me?” Stiles pulls away, eyes wide. “There’s a whole lot there that needs explaining.”

“Maybe that’s for the ride down.” He grins and pulls off his shirt, holding it out to Stiles. “Trade, it’ll help get the scent in faster.”

Stiles obeys, although his scent and face show his concern before he quickly pulls on Peter’s shirt. “I’m going to stretch it out in all the wrong places,” he says, pulling it over his swollen belly.

Peter grins, smoothing down Stiles’ shirt, which is tight on his shoulders, and lose around his waist. “It’s fine, I have more.” He takes a sip of coffee, raising an eyebrow at Stiles’ mug of tea.

“No, thank you, Alpha,” he responds quickly shaking his head. “Sorry. Ugh.”

“Try to think of it as being taken care of because of the baby, if you can’t believe an alpha would spoil their omega just because.” Peter tries to keep his eyes from flashing, knowing it’ll upset Stiles in too many ways, but damn, he wants to find Deucalion’s corpse and rip it to shreds. “If you call me Alpha, that’s fine. We can also say the change from our both being betas to me being an alpha is throwing us off as well.”

Stiles nods and they both turn their head towards his room, listening to Noah fuss for a minute before he falls back asleep. He looks back at Peter with a small smile. “I’m not used to someone else looking after Noah. Mostly it was just keeping him quiet around the rest of the pack and trying to make sure he heard me talking as much as possible. I was worried he’d be a late talker since he didn’t get a lot of interaction other than me. Well, and Deucalion would sometimes lecture him about his great role as the future alpha of his empire and how he was going to be the alpha of all packs in the world.”

“Charming. I remember my sister, Talia, knew him before he apparently went bat shit crazy. She seemed to think he was fair. And sane.”

“He occasionally monologued about how he lost his sight, but became stronger because of it. I think some of the others in the pack worried he’d want to blind them all to increase their strength, but he wouldn’t share something like that with them.” Stiles shrugs and crosses his arms, hugging himself.

“Did the others in the pack – how did they treat Noah?” Peter asks, leaning over to give Stiles’ shoulder a squeeze, fairly sure the boy doesn’t even realize how he’s showing his nerves.

“Around Alpha, they were mostly quiet – they never hit him or anything, even when Deucalion wasn’t around. When it was just him and me, they’d tell me to keep the brat away or to be quiet or…” He sighs and briefly tilts his head against Peter’s hand. “I was always worried he’d have ‘an accident’ or something. Which I’m sure Deucalion would blame me for…”

Peter can’t stop himself from getting up and wrapping Stiles in his arms, the boy sounds so miserable. He feels him stiffen slightly, and then relaxing a little – not completely – but it’s something. “You’re safe and your babies are safe. With me and with the pack, I promise you, Stiles. If I think there’s any danger, I’ll get you out of there.” He tilts Stiles’ face up towards him and uses a thumb to gently swipe over his cheekbone. “And if you feel I’m a danger and you’re comfortable with the pack there, I’ll leave and leave you there. Your safety and comfort is the priority.”

“I need a pack, _we_ need a pack, me and both of the children. I might be wrong, but I think I could trust you. I guess… what’s the saying, the enemy of my enemy is my friend? I’m away from Deucalion and the others, you killed Ennis and I want to trust you.” He tilts his head, shutting his eyes while Peter quickly brushes his nose up his neck.

When Stiles drops his forehead to Peter’s shoulder, scenting him back, Peter smiles and whispers, “Well, that’s a start.”


	6. Driving South

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter, Stiles and baby Noah drive to California and make sure they have their story straight.

They stay at Peter’s apartment for another day, long enough to try to mix scents a bit more and talk through their story. Then one more check that everything they’re taking is in the car and Peter starts the drive. He enters the freeway, going back to his home, back to the territory he left over five years ago.

“It’ll be fine, Stiles. I do know how to act around my nephew and frankly, he’s so anxious for family, he’d accept you and Noah even if he didn’t think you were blood relatives.”

Stiles turns to the back seat, checking to be sure Noah’s secure in his car seat, playing with his talking story book. It should occupy him until the motion of the car makes him fall asleep. “How does he not get taken advantage of if he’s that gullible?”

“Oh, he does, all the time. He has a good heart; I should feel bad taking advantage of him, but…” he shrugs and checks over his shoulder at the baby. “He killed me once, so I don’t feel that bad about it.”

“Yeah, so you said. You sure this’ll be okay? You’re not worried or anything? You know what they say, once an uncle killer, always an uncle killer.”

“Absolutely sure, this will be fine. Let’s talk about how we got together, be sure we’re in sync.” Peter takes a drink from the coffee cup in the center console, offering it to Stiles who shakes his head. Right, Peter’s black-with-sugar and Stiles is heavy-cream-and-lots-of-sugar. He’ll remember that. “Like we said, we’ll stick mostly to how you ended up with Deucalion, as that’ll help you remember. Generally, the closer to the truth you can go, the better. Makes it easier to avoid being caught in a lie.”

Stiles’ scent turns bitter and he turns to Peter, eyebrow raised. “Okay. So you wanted an omega to knock up and purchased me when I turned eighteen because you thought I could have a lot of kids. Then you fucked me for a day, then you bit me against my will and knocked me up at my first heat.” He waits a beat and says, “So that’s what we want to go with?”

There’s nothing good to say to that, so Peter’s silent for a moment, waiting for Stiles’ scent to calm. It’s still harsh, but not the mix of anger-hurt-fear-defeat that’s so bitter it makes Peter want to sneeze. “I’m sorry that was your experience. Fortunately, I don’t think it’s the same for all omegas. I know I was able to talk with Patricia – she was my wife – for a couple of hours before I chose her, and we agreed to give each other a chance. She could have said no, but we were interested in each other enough not to.”

“Are you sure? Maybe she didn’t think she could say no,” Stiles shoots back, eyes shining bright with a challenge.

Peter likes this feisty version of Stiles, so sue him.  He keeps his eyes their regular, human blue, knowing that Stiles won’t talk with him and won’t open up if he turns alpha – of either type. “Possibly. I tried to make sure she knew she had a choice. I know it’s not always a choice and if she didn’t want to stay she would risk being with another alpha who wasn’t as willing to give her time.” He stops and thinks back to his wife and their brief courtship and marriage. He was happy and thinks she was, too; at least she smelled happy. “Do you want me to say that it’s a horrible system? I will, I agree it is. But it is what it is and I don’t know who to talk with or how to change something that’s been happening for what, a thousand years?”

They’re both silent for a few miles and finally Stiles sighs, turning towards Peter. “I was deemed difficult in the omega school. Mouthy and belligerent and unwilling to accept my role in society. Deucalion was told I was strong willed and he asked if I was physically strong as well and told I was. He said he wanted someone who could have a lot of babies. They told him I might not be a good match, but he picked me anyway.” He turns to the back seat, gently rocking the car seat, listening to Noah’s quiet snores. “I guess I learned pretty quickly to not be mouthy around him or the pack. And it’s hard for me to believe that there might be an alpha who picks someone out of, what, actual affection?”

“It is hard to say there’s affection immediately. With Trish, it was walking into the omega show and immediately I knew there was someone there who I had to find. I basically followed the scent and found her, and then, like I said, we spoke for a bit at the show and she agreed to come with me. I paid for her, yes, because that’s what you do.” He risks reaching over and patting Stiles’ arm. “I can’t change either of our pasts, Stiles, but I think the future can be better for you. And if you hate it there, I can take you someplace else if you want. I meant what I said, I’ll keep you safe. There or someplace else.”

“Why?” Stiles look is so open and curious; it’s not an accusation and there’s not any doubt there, just curiosity about why Peter would even care.

“Alpha wolf instincts? Alpha with an omega instinct? Cheap psychology and saying I’m trying to regain my lost family? Maybe any and all of those, I don’t know and I don’t think it matters.” He turns and sniffs towards the back seat. “I think Noah’s ready for a change, I can stop for a bit.”

“It’s okay, he’ll be fine for a bit,” Stiles says, glancing back at his still sleeping son. “The diapers, they’re good, he’ll stay dry enough until we’re ready to stop.”

Peter shakes his head at Stiles’ slightly anxious scent, still nervous around him. But it makes sense, probably.  They’ve known each other for only a few days and now the omega is completely dependent on him. “Well, if it’s okay with you, I’d like to stop and stretch my legs and maybe get some lunch. It’s not a lot farther from here, just another couple of hours, but if we lunch now, then we can get right into discussing how much Derek wants us to stay when we get there.”

“You’re pretty sure of yourself, for a guy who got killed.” Peter told him that story over breakfast and it’s interesting. He’s a little concerned that he kinda likes this alpha, or at least he thinks Peter can protect them, which is more important. Liking him, if it happens, would be great, but protection is the priority.

“Yes, he killed me,” Peter answers, shrugging. “But that was before I came offering him a family.” He pulls into a small diner, unrolling his window and sniffing deeply. “Smells okay. Wanna try it?”

Shrugging back, Stiles undoes his seatbelt and slowly gets out of the car, holding the roof until he’s better balanced. “Sure, I’m always in for cheese fries. Or salad or whatever,” he quickly amends.

“Cheese fries it is. I’m guessing chili cheese fries are an option, too.” He moves to the back, pulling out Noah’s travel bag, letting Stiles pick up the squirming, yawning boy. “Whatever you two want; you’re both growing werewolves.”

 

Stiles is getting used to people smiling at them, looking and seeing a happy family. Attentive alpha with his pregnant omega and cute toddler. He and Noah didn’t go out a lot with Deucalion. Apparently, being a maniac takes a lot of time and kept them from doing family things. Which was fine, Stiles wouldn’t have wanted to sit at a formica booth, sharing tater tots with Noah while his alpha was watching.

After just a couple of days he’s relaxing and eating things he wouldn’t have eaten a month ago. Deucalion wanted to be sure he was eating only nutritious things, low calorie and nothing that smelled.

“So how did we become a couple?” he asks, shredding a tot into smaller pieces so Noah can eat it himself.

Peter smiles and takes a bit of beef from his sandwich, putting it closer to the baby. “Our pack’s second – “

“Stavros.”

“Yes, Stavros wanted a mate, so he and I went to an omega fair to see if he could find anyone. And as soon as we walked in, I caught an alluring scent and had to find it and ta-da, it was you.”

“Yeah, going with your version makes us both sound better.” Stiles is fairly sure he’s blushing, something he didn’t expect after everything that’s happened. “So we were able to talk for a bit and then you decided…”

“I asked if you wanted to try it and you agreed and that’s that. I don’t expect we’ll get asked too much.” He signals to the waitress for a refill on their sodas and smiles politely as she coos over Noah, giving him a small cup of ice cream.

“Thank you, he loves ice cream.” When she leaves, he tries to get Noah to take a spoon, shaking his head when his son shoves it across the table. “Sorry, I think I said he’ll eat everything with his hands.”

“That’s fine, he’s learning. I’m sure it wasn’t long ago when you had to feed him everything yourself, right?”

“That’s true, I guess.” He cups his son’s head, kissing his temple and taking a lick of ice cream from the offered fist. “So, aren’t you worried that your nephew or someone will hear the lies?”

“No, actually I’m very good at lying. The secret is to tell a half truth and of course you have to believe it yourself.” Peter takes a sip of his drink, stacking his silverware on his plate and pushing it to the side of the table. “Fortunately, I had gone to a fair with Stavros at one point, and that is the way I met with my mate many years ago, and I do like your scent very much. So I’m sure, I won’t have any problems making this believable.”

“You…” Thankfully, Noah picks that time to lunge for Stiles’ soda, and he gets a few seconds’ break that lets Peter continue.

“There’s also distraction. For example, if we’re asked how long we’ve been together, I can say something like, um, I don’t remember exactly when we got together, but it’s been a bit now,” he says, reaching over to give Stiles’ hand a squeeze. “If there’s any tweak from the little lie, it’ll be read that I should remember exactly when we got together and the hand squeeze is to apologize to my poor, little omega mate. And your little heart blip there is probably because your alpha _should_ remember the second you found each other, but you’re willing to forgive me.”

“You’re positively awful,” Stiles crows, covering his grin with his hand. “It’s wonderful.”

“Thank you. But I don’t expect we’ll get grilled too much about how we got together, at least not until we’re firmly established in the territory. And if things ever get awkward, or people question our scents, we can pull the trauma card.” He smirks, pulling out his wallet as he glances at their bill.

Stiles starts packing up Noah’s things, making sure they don’t delay Peter from getting back on the road. “The trauma card? Is what exactly?”

“Our pack was killed, and it was very traumatic, especially with you pregnant and me a new alpha wolf. If things get awkward, you just look upset and scared. Can you do that?” He raises an eyebrow and looks at Stiles expectantly.

Stiles lets his eyes go wide for a second before he looks down, chewing on his bottom lip. After a quick pause, he looks up with a smirk. “How’s that?”

“Excellent. If I was capable of feeling guilt, I’m sure I’d feel it then. Oh, and don’t forget to do the stomach rub, that always looks good.” He hands Noah’s bag to Stiles, picking up the carrier himself. “Allow me, he’s a bit heavy for my pregnant mate.”

“He’s my son, he’s not heavy,” Stiles answers, but picks up the bag, watching Peter make his way to the register and a large bakery case. “Oh, brownies.”

“Do you want one? For the road?” Peter asks, handing the bill and card to the woman behind the counter. “Add one and also… hmm… lemon bars homemade?”

“Just this morning,” she answers grinning. “Nice and tangy. One of each for you and your mate?”

“Brownie, my mate?” he asks Stiles, leaning over to kiss his temple.

This time, Stiles knows he’s blushing and he looks down, nodding. “Thank you, Peter.”

Peter takes the two bags with their treats and guides Stiles out of the restaurant. “Anything you need. Now let’s get back on the road.” He can smell how Stiles is getting more anxious as he settles Noah into his car seat. “Everything okay?”

“Yes, but… Is it okay if I sit in the back with Noah for a bit? Now that he’s eaten and he’s clean, he likes to play a bit or at least to have me read a story to him. Would that be okay?” He fusses with the baby’s seat and straps for another minute, keeping his head down and slightly tilted, showing his neck to the older wolf.

“Of course, Stiles, that’s fine.” Peter rubs his cheek against the offered throat, ending with a slight nip just below his ear. Maybe it’s a bit much, but still almost reasonable for scenting a pack member. “You do what’s needed with Noah – with our son, Noah.”

Stiles snorts quietly and Peter’s glad to see a quick smile before he gets in the backseat. “Thanks, Peter. I hope you like The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I pretty much have to read it every day.”

“Pilla! Pilla!” Noah calls, slapping the tray in front of him and Stiles settles in.

Peter smiles in the rearview mirror and pulls back on the highway, for the next couple of hours drive. “Well, it’s a classic for a reason. I’ve always been more of a Runaway Bunny man myself.”

“I’ll make sure to put that one in the queue.” Stiles opens the book and holds it so Noah and can see, turning to the first page. “Okay, here we go. In the light of the moon a little egg lay on a leaf…”


	7. At the Pack House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and Stiles arrive in Beacon Hills and meet Derek's pack. Peter tells their story and Derek has a decision to make.

 

Peter parks the car at the top of the driveway, next to several unfamiliar cars. “You ready for this?”

“No, not even close,” Stiles answers, shaking his head as he looks towards the house. “Whatever happens you won’t let them kill me, right?”

He’s not sure if the younger man is joking or not. Stiles is pale and biting his lip, rubbing his belly in the self-soothing gesture Peter’s getting used to. “Of course not. Who would take care of Noah?” He gets out of the car and looks towards the house, so different than the one he grew up in. But of course it is, it’s an entirely new house on a new patch of land in the preserve. There’s still a big, wrap- around porch and it’s three floors like the old one, but that’s it. Otherwise, it doesn’t look the same, and barely makes a twinge in his chest. Barely.

“Hey, look what the cat dragged home! It’s Uncle Creepy!”

Peter looks up at the blond woman, coming down the porch stairs. Erica looks a bit older than he remembers, but that makes sense. She went from her late teens to what – mid-twenties – since he last saw her. “Well, well, well. You don’t look nearly as slutty as you used to.”

“Still horrible, I see. Gimme a hug, bitch,” she says, wrapping her arms around him, scenting along his cheek with her own. “You look great, but why would I be surprised?” She relaxes in his arms, squeezing just short of painful.

“You look great as well, sweetheart.” Peter pulls back and holds out a hand towards Stiles. “Erica, I want you to meet Stiles and the smaller one is Noah.”

“Down! Down, Da, down down!” Noah chants, wiggling in Stiles’ arms.

“His vocabulary isn’t extensive, but it is forceful.” Stiles holds the wiggling little boy and looks at the gravel driveway. “Be patient, baby.”

“Or come in the house,” Derek says, coming down the stairs. “All of you, you’re welcome here, please come in.” He stops in front of Peter and nods once. “Uncle Peter, it’s good to see you.”

Peter nods back, with a small smile on his lips. “You, too, Derek.”

“Oh for god’s sake, you can hug, you know. That’s kind of expected,” Erica says, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes just like a Hale. “Or is it just you with a stick up your ass, Derek?”

Stiles holds his breath, unsure what will happen, and watches the two men embrace, neither completely at ease as they rub their cheeks together, scenting like Peter does with him. It’s good, and he can feel Peter relaxing slightly. There’s a tug in his chest and Stiles knows enough to know that it’s a pack bond; it’s small and fragile, but it’s there.

When Derek steps back, he’s smiling, but his eyes are alpha red. “Is there something else you want to tell me, Peter?”

Peter’s eyes flash red and he shrugs, grinning without showing his fangs. “I thought it might be something to discuss in person.”

“Who did you kill?”

“Oh, good, Scott’s here,” Peter says, smiling with no sincerity at all. “It’s not a party without Scotty.”

A growl rumbles in Scott’s chest and he steps forward, trying to get in between Derek and Peter. “You didn’t mention this on your call. Funny how you managed to forget to say that you killed an alpha.”

“He killed one of the alpha pack – they killed everyone in his pack, I think managing to do that and survive is pretty impressive.” Stiles takes a breath, adjusting Noah in his arms. The boy’s quiet, old enough to feel the tension around him and Stiles turns him so the baby’s face is against his throat, offering his familiar scent. “We wanted to get here and tell you what happened.”

“Yes, exactly.” Peter wraps an arm around Stiles, rubbing his hand down Noah’s back. “Are we still invited in, Derek?”

“Of course, Peter. Stiles. Come in, let’s talk.” Derek turns and everyone follows the alpha into Derek’s rebuilt Hale pack house.

 

Derek’s betas line up in the living room, all anxious to see Peter and his new family. “Let’s see, who do you know from when you were here before? You know Scott, obviously. And Erica.”

“Yup, missed you, you creep.” She takes the hand of a man next to her and says, “And this is Boyd, my mate. Vernon Boyd, but everyone calls him Boyd or he gets testy.” She stands on her toes to kiss his cheek. “And no one likes to get Boyd testy.”

The bigger man nods and Peter and Stiles both get a whiff of his omega scent. Erica chose well, he smells content and protective and her scent is happy and proud.

“Nice to meet you. And of course I remember Isaac and Lydia.” He nods to them both and waits for Derek to finish introductions.

“I think the only one you don’t know then is Kira.”

She steps forward and waves shyly. “Hi. I guess I’ve heard… a little about you?”

“All lies, I’m sure,” Peter says and winks at her. “So you know this is Stiles and this little red wiggler here is Noah.”

“Hi.” Stiles’ smile is quivery and Noah pulls back to look at him.

The baby pats his cheek and asks, “Da? Sad?”

Peter probably couldn’t have asked for anything better as half the pack coos and even those who don’t, suddenly smell softer and more welcoming.

“I’m fine, baby,” Stiles says, nuzzling Noah’s head. “Just tired.” He looks at Derek and around large living room. “Is it okay to let him down? He’s not walking yet, so he can’t break anything, at least not anything that’s more than, like, twelve inches off the floor. He scoots pretty quick, but I can watch him and make sure…”

“I’ll do it!” Kira steps forward, eyes only for the baby. “You guys need to talk and I can make sure he’s okay. If that’s okay.”

Stiles bends down to put Noah on the floor. “That’s not necessary, I’ll watch him.”

“I’ve got him,” Kira says firmly, following behind Noah as he starts to move towards the kitchen. “You should stay and talk with the pack.” She flashes her eyes and turns her attention back to Noah as he squeals and picks up speed, scooting on his bottom towards the kitchen.

Peter looks after her, head cocked thoughtfully. “She’s not a wolf? Kitsune?”

“Um hm. Thunder kitsune.” Derek answers, and he looks quite proud of his pack member. “She’s coming into her power, still in training. But she’s a good pack member.”

“And she’s dating Scott,” Erica interjects, nudging him in the side. “You’d think that getting some would make him in a better mood.”

“He’s usually in a good mood, Scott’s a happy puppy.” Isaac, sitting on the other side of him, shrugs. “He just doesn’t really like you, Peter.”

Scott sits quietly, a mix of emotions rolling off him, but he doesn’t deny what’s been said.

“Well, there’s no accounting for tastes. Ask your questions, what do you need to know? Do you want the entire five year history since I left? Do you want to know the last couple of weeks? I think that’s probably the part you need, am I right?” He addresses Derek directly, pointedly ignoring Scott’s glare.

“As much as you need to say and as far back as you need to go to tell us how you got here.”

Peter sits for a moment, steepling his fingers in front of his chin. From the kitchen, there’s the sound of Kira cooing at Noah and Noah’s little squeals and half-words. “You’re familiar with the alpha pack, aren’t you? Just like it sounds, a pack of alphas. Their leader, the head alpha is Deucalion. Talia knew him, they had an alliance years ago, and tried to get a pact with the Argents. That didn’t go well and Deucalion ended up blinded by Gerard. Neither here nor there, I suppose, except maybe it explains why his attitude is so bad.”

“So you know if you kill a wolf, you’ll absorb its power – its life source,” Peter continues, addressing Derek. “If you were to kill your own beta, it’s even more power to the alpha. That’s what Deucalion and his pack does. They choose a pack and tell the alpha they can either kill their own betas and perhaps – perhaps – live to join the alpha pack or the alpha pack will kill them all anyway.”

“Basically, if you’re chosen by them, you’re dead either way?” Isaac asks, looking around at the other betas to see if they’re all thinking the same thing. “So your pack was chosen, but… you’re very much alive.”

“Yes, to both. Fortunately, Deuc has a healthy ego and he issues a warning, or I guess a challenge. So my pack received this warning and as the left hand I was in charge of figuring out how we’d address it.” Peter stops talking and his scent darkens with sorrow and regret. “We had wards, good ones around our territory done by our emissary, and of course we did patrols as a normal course of business. I suggested our pack stay closer to home and only our strongest and fastest betas do patrols. A couple of days after the challenge was issued, a ward was tripped and… I was lucky. It was skill, but mostly luck, I’ll admit it. I was in the area and I was able to sneak up on one of their pack, Ennis, and I won the fight. Got the shit beaten out of me first, but ended up being the one standing.”

Scott sneers and leans forward, eyes flashing gold. “You were weak when you were here before, or that’s what you always said whenever you decided not to go out with us, when you didn’t defend us.”

Peter flicks his eyes towards Scott and then looks away, addressing the rest of the group around him. “I felt little alliance to this pack; lord knows, you didn’t consider me a packmate, so I wasn’t about to put my life in jeopardy to support you. After five years gone, I’m much stronger than I was when I left here. Anyway, do you want me to continue or not?”

“Please continue,” Derek says, raising an eyebrow to Scott, but not flashing his eyes. “How did your alpha react?”

Before Peter can answer, they hear Kira in the kitchen as she says, “No, no, baby, keep away from the stairs.”

Stiles stands, already facing the kitchen, when Kira comes in, smiling and holding both of Noah’s hands, helping him toddle back into the living room on chubby bow-legs. “No problem! We’re having fun investigating, but now we’re going to be in here. Don’t mind us!”

Peter reaches over, taking Stiles’ hand, gently pulling him back into his chair. “He’s fine, Stiles. Completely safe. And thank you, Kira.”

“Oh, we’re just having fun, we’re okay,” she says, letting him sit down and then following him as he scoots out of the room down a hallway. “I got him! He’s fast!”

“Where were we?” Peter asks and then shakes his head, smiling at Stiles. “Okay, our alpha, Kimberly, was certainly surprised at the quickness of their attack and of my new status. We agreed that we’d deal with the threat first and then we’d be able to take some time to determine how to handle…” he sighs and says, “How to handle the changes.”

“You were in a pack sharing alpha status?” Lydia asks, talking for the first thing since they came in. “Hard to picture. Hard to picture two alphas sharing, especially when one’s you.”

He gives a warm smile to Stiles and says, “I’ve found other things to focus on. So yes, especially in the short term we were both willing to put aside issues and work together.”

He stops again, scent going dark, and after a moment Stiles squeezes his hand and whispers, “Peter?”

“Sorry,” Peter offers, kissing Stiles’ knuckles, then sighing loudly. “Kimber and I agreed that it would take a couple of days for the alpha pack to get to us; they’d normally give a warning, then send a scout and then attack. That’s pretty normal for most wolf packs and for them as well from what we’d heard. I should have had time to get Stiles to safety. The idea was to get him to the south, closer to California, since we knew the alpha pack came from the north. Get him to another pack, and then I’d get back to our pack. It should have been two days, tops.”

Peter goes silent again and Stiles rests his head on the alpha’s shoulder.

“We were almost where the other pack was going to pick Stiles up and I felt… I felt the bonds break, all of them. One by one. Debra, our newest beta. Ronnie and his sister, Jaeden. Nicholas was just home from college. Stavros, our second, and his daughter, Becca. She was… she was twelve, the youngest in our pack. Our emissary, Tristan. Finally, Kimber and her mate, Andre. One after the other, just like last time. Like last time.” He looks away from the pack, but brings his hand up to rest on Stiles’ neck.

Stiles turns Peter’s face towards him, pulling him down towards his throat, giving Peter a moment of privacy. The pain in their bond is real and Stiles tries to send back support, hoping Peter can feel it.

Then they hear a little squeak from the floor and it’s Noah, scooting his way over to them. He looks about to cry as he slaps Stiles’ thigh and tugs on his pant leg. “Da? Up!” he orders, holding his arms up, expecting to be lifted.

Peter gets to him first and picks him up, hands firmly under the boy’s armpits. “There you are, little man, did you have fun making Kira chase you?” The smile he gives to the pack is tentative and he takes Noah by the ankles and holds him upside down. “Laugh for Daddy, please,” he says, twisting Noah so he’s facing Stiles when he starts giggling and reaches out for Stiles.

“You know not to do this when he’s just eaten, right?” Stiles tickles Noah’s sides, getting more squeals, wiping any earlier worry off his face.

“From personal experience,” Peter states, putting Noah on his father’s lap. He rubs his face and says, “So, the rest, I guess?” When Derek nods, Peter takes a breath, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. “I figured they’d stay by the pack house for a while, trying to find me since I killed Ennis. I gave it some time, almost two weeks, and then decided to get back to the apartment I had there. A bolt hole, you know I like those.”

Derek smiles; he just had Peter’s apartment in Beacon Hills cleaned, unsure if he’d stay at the house or his apartment. “They were gone, I take it?”

“Yes. We stayed there a few days, scouting around and preparing to leave. And then I called you.”

Everyone sits quietly for a moment, just thinking about what happened and what they heard, until Stiles whines, “Oh, god, Noah! I guess diner food doesn’t agree with you!”

It takes just a second for the stench to reach everyone in the room, with wolves turning their heads away or at the least squinting. “He is a little…ripe right now,” Peter says, smiling at the stinky baby, who laughs. “Did we bring his bag in?”

Stiles nods quickly and stands, pushing off the couch with one hand. “Is there a place….”

“Boyd, can you take them up to their room? We have a two rooms set up – well, one and a half, a room for you with an alcove with a crib. I think Noah’s still in a crib, isn’t he?” Derek asks, suddenly looking worried, looking at his pack as though they’ll know.

“That’ll be great, Derek, thank you.” Noah’s starting to fuss, now unhappy with his soggy, stinky diaper. “Upstairs, Boyd?”

“Yes, follow me,” Boyd says, leading them up the stairs.

 

A werewolf pack house isn’t completely sound proof. It isn’t meant to be. There’s something comforting about being able to hear your pack around you, chopping things in the kitchen, murmurs in the living room as people chuckle over whatever’s on television.

 

Of course the bedrooms are soundproofed and so are the bathrooms, because everyone appreciates that. And so is Derek’s office, where he herds his pack after Peter  and his family go upstairs.

 

When everyone’s sitting quietly, he looks around the room. It’s taken a bit for all of them, but he finally has the gravitas and the general aura of an alpha in charge of his pack. “So what do you think? Anyone have comments or concerns? Questions?”

 

Isaac is the first to speak after looking around and seeing everyone looking down or generally away from Derek. “I only knew Peter after the coming back to life thing, but I’m okay with him being back. Honestly, I’m not sure why he was asked to leave in the first place – not that I’m challenging that, but I’m fine with him and his family here.”

 

Nodding, Derek looks at everyone, wanting someone to meet his eyes. “Lydia, how about you? Peter may have hurt you more than anyone else. How do you feel?”

 

Scott snorts and Lydia turns her head quickly, raising an eyebrow at him. “Oh, I’m _so_ sorry, Scott, I forgot. You were bitten as well and instead of feeling people’s deaths you got super hearing and sight and strength and your asthma got cured and you got super healing as well. Sooo much worse off than me.” She turns back to Derek, taking a breath to steel herself. “I think I’ll be fine, Derek. Peter and I had reached an agreement before he left; he avoided me and I avoided him. I’m sure we can go back to that.”

 

“Okay, that sounds…” He huffs out a breath and looks at the banshee in his pack. “That sounds reasonable, I guess. Good enough, if it’s good for you.” Derek looks around the room at his pack, scenting and feeling through the pack bonds. “Anyone else? Issues, concerns? You’re not normally this quiet.”

 

“You know I think he’s lying about something,” Scott says, eyes flashing bright yellow. “It’s Peter, he’s lying.”

 

“Well of course he is – you’re right, it’s Peter.” Lydia shifts in her seat, smoothing out her skirt. “But we know that; we know there’s something we’re not seeing, the question is, is whatever his scam is, is it a threat to us?”

 

Derek sighs and looks towards the ceiling; he can’t hear his uncle and family upstairs, but there’s a bit of scent on them. There’s also the pack bond, slightly stronger in his chest. There used to be over a dozen people in his immediate family – siblings, aunts and uncles, parents and grandparents and he lost them all; so did Peter and Derek can’t imagine doing that twice. “So we all agree, there’s some level of bullshit from Peter, because it’s Peter. Does anyone feel threatened? Anyone feel like we need to tell them to leave the territory.”

 

Derek tries to keep his scent neutral and he’s not sure how well he succeeds. This is family, after all. But he’s an alpha now and it’s not just his decision to make. He looks around the room, making sure to make eye contact with all his pack. “Boyd, do you have concerns? Stiles is an omega and you’ve always been our only omega in the pack. How do you feel?”

 

“Me?” Boyd just came back into the room and he moves closer to Erica and she puts a hand on his knee. “You want my opinion?”

 

“Of course – you’re pack, and your opinion matters.” Derek tries to keep his voice firm with conviction, but not giving any type of alpha command to his beta – who is also Erica’s omega.

 

“Well…” he heaves out a breath and looks to Erica, who gives his shoulder a gentle squeeze and nods at him to continue. “There’s something… it’s not a lie, not exactly, but there’s something with Stiles, I don’t really know what.” He looks at Erica and she gives him an encouraging smile and kisses his temple.

  
“I told you he’s lying!” Scott stands and turns to his pack. “Peter is a liar. He always was and he always will be!”

 

“No, not Peter and like I said, not a lie, not exactly.” Boyd shakes his head, trying to figure out how to explain what he knows. “It’s… it’s not even a wolf thing, it’s an omega thing. He’s not lying, not really. I mean, we… we learn how to twist things, how to say things so we don’t upset our alphas.” Boyd looks up to Erica, sitting just slightly above him on the arm of his chair, and nuzzles into her shoulder. “There’s something that’s not quite one-hundred percent and I guess I don’t mean that as totally negative…”

 

Derek nods, trying his best to send comforting thoughts through their bond. He bit Boyd after Erica brought him home, after she’d mated with him and confirmed that he was the one she’d be with forever. Boyd is a good man, stable, thoughtful and strong for an omega. He’s a good beta wolf and he’s good with Erica. “I think I understand, at least a little. I mean as much as I can.” He crosses his arms over his chest, looking at the floor while they all think a bit. “Do you think you can talk with him? I don’t mean interrogate him or anything, but really if there is something that’s a problem, maybe he’d be willing to talk with you? If he needs help with anything…”

 

Boyd nods and Lydia interrupts before he can say anything. “I don’t get a bad feeling from them. It’s like there’s something different with Peter, and I don’t just mean the eyes. He doesn’t feel… he doesn’t feel like a threat to us, you know?”

 

“I _want_ to trust him, but you’re pack and you all come first. Will you be comfortable if they’re here, at least for some amount of time? It doesn’t have to be forever, but if we say until after the baby’s born, how do you feel about it?”

 

They look around the room, waiting for someone to respond, but at least there’s small nods. Finally, Isaac shrugs and says, “Yes, Derek, they can stay. Thanks for asking us our opinion, but you know, Peter’s your relative and you’re the alpha, so yeah.”

 

“I’ll watch out for him. And Stiles, as necessary.” He nods to Boyd and says, “If you can try to get friendly with him; maybe you’ll learn something or maybe, I dunno, maybe he just needs a friend. I’m guessing he hasn’t been a wolf for long.”

 

“Me either, but maybe that’s what we can talk about.”

 

Erica wraps an arm around Boyd’s shoulder as he leans into her side. “My mate is a spy! That’s awesome! And he’s going to make a great baby daddy, too!”

 

Their alpha rolls his eyes, saying, “Maybe you two can wait until we have one baby delivered, okay?” With a few smirks as their reply, he nods to the group and says, “Let’s go make sure Peter didn’t set up his own government in the living room.”


	8. Settling In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and Stiles get settled in their room and Derek confirms they can stay.

Boyd takes them to a room towards the end of a hallway. They pass a couple of empty rooms in between theirs and the other bedrooms on the floor. Their room has one large window facing the back yard, not quite over the patio. It’s nicely decorated, although not exactly to Peter’s tastes; it’s a little too light, pine where he might prefer cherry. The colors are nice though, sage green, deep blues and white. Overall, it makes him think of the ocean. Soothing, good for sleeping.

There’s one king-sized bed with matching nightstands on both sides and two large dressers, so plenty of storage space.

What makes this their room is the small alcove off to the side, where there’s a crib and changing table, along with another smaller dresser.

“I have to get back downstairs,” Boyd says, glancing around the room. He nods, looking satisfied. “This is good, I hope? Derek thought it would be good for the two of you and the baby.”

Stiles looks around, face pale and his heart pounding. “It’s fine, it’s nice. Thank you, Boyd.”

“Are you okay?” Boyd asks, taking a step towards them – towards Stiles, of course, keeping a distance from Peter, a claimed alpha.

“I’m fine, just tired.” Stiles sits on the edge of the dresser, keeping one arm around squirmy Noah as he pushes his fingers into the small of his back. “Long ride and with the pregnancy and…”

“Stressful,” Peter supplies. He puts a hand on the middle of Stiles’ back and watches his veins turn gray as he pulls out the bit of pain. It’s not black, so that’s good. “No matter how good something seems to be, you know how change is, right, Boyd?”

“Sure. I think you’re not supposed to do that, with the pain? That’s what Derek told Erica and me. It might prevent the pregnant person from feeling if there’s a problem,” Boyd replies, looking at Stiles because it’s not appropriate to disagree with an alpha, especially someone else’s alpha.

“You’re right.” Peter takes his hand off Stiles’ back, shaking it out. There wasn’t much pain, he’d probably call it discomfort if anything. “It’s more checking to be sure things are okay. I’m a bit of a worrier just now.”

Boyd nods again and turns towards the door. “Well, get settled in and… whatever. I have to go down, I think there’s a pack meeting. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’d expect nothing else. And thank you again for your help and hospitality.” Peter smiles at him, not waiting until he’s left and shut the door to take Noah from Stiles’ arms. “Why don’t you get comfortable and I’ll get him changed?”

 

They don’t talk a lot as they change the baby and put away their clothes, concentrating on getting everything Noah needs set up in his little area. Peter stops for a moment, running his hand over the wooden crib, pushing it gently to make it rock.

“It looks old; do you think it’s safe? Babies chew on cribs, don’t they?” Stiles asks, rubbing the dark, stained wood.

“Yes, it’s old. It’s been chewed on already and it’s safe. Don’t forget, Noah’s a little wolf.” He puts the suitcases in the back of the large closet, and gives the room another quick look to be sure it’s tidy. “Will you be okay with this, Stiles? You anticipated sharing a room, right? We need to share a bed, that’s expected. That’s all it is, sharing a place to sleep.”

Stiles eyes the bed and looks towards Peter. “Sure, of course. And it’s a big bed, so…” Stiles nods and his heart beat stays steady. “I guess I’m just tired. And is there a chance that Derek’ll kick us out? He seemed okay, do you think he’s okay? What’s their meeting about?”

“Hopefully he’s gotten smarter and they’re talking about if we’re a danger. Overall, though, I think we’re in. While they may not trust me, you and Noah give us good cover.” He picks up Noah, growling into the baby’s belly, making Noah laugh. “Because you, my good sir, are adorable.”

“ _Are_ you a danger to them? You’re already an alpha, do you want to take over this territory? You could go back where your old pack was and rebuild there.”

He doesn’t look particularly concerned with whatever answer Peter might give. He’s interested, but his scent is curious, not really worried. Not that he should be worrying about this new pack, people he’s only just met, but it will probably tell him a bit more about Peter. And it makes sense he’s worried about Peter.

“Derek and his sister, Cora, are the only family I have left. I don’t want to hurt them; I don’t know that I could at this point.” He sits Noah on the floor and they watch him half crawl, half stumble around the room, heading towards the door.

Stiles turns his head, watching Noah pound on the bedroom door, face starting to scrunch up, ready to cry in frustration. “Noah trusts you, you know. He trusts you and he lets you pick him up and he comes to you. And I trust him.”

“He’s a baby, Stiles. They’re not known to be the best judges of a person’s character,” Peter says, trying to keep a straight face. “No matter how smart he might seem.”

“He hated Deucalion. He was scared of him and kept away from him as much as he could. Sometimes Deucalion would pick him up and start telling him about his future, leader of the kingdom, that sort of shit and you could tell Noah just wanted to be put down.” Stiles picks him up, scenting Noah’s neck and throat, rubbing his nose against the boy until the boy’s whine turns into a quiet rumble. “He likes you and trusts you, so I’ll trust you, too. Until I learn a reason not to.”

“I think that sounds reasonable. And I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, too,” Peter says, cupping the back of Noah’s neck, adding his scent on top of Stiles’. It’s just like a family should smell.

“Benefit of the doubt?” Stiles asks, rubbing his hand over his round belly. “Because I’m such a danger?”

Peter pats Stiles’ belly and holds out a hand to help the boy up. “You were the mate of the alpha of the alpha pack; I don’t know what you know or what you feel beyond what you tell me. I’m trusting you because I think you can help me and we can help each other. Until I find a reason not to trust you.”

Stiles stands, putting his hand on his lower back with a slight grimace. “Guess it’s as good as we get for now. Let’s get downstairs and get Noah some food before he does eat the crib. And I suppose we need to find out if your nephew will let us stay.”

 

When Derek and the pack come out of the office, they find their visitors in the living room, settled on the couch. Stiles is giving Noah a bottle, while Peter sits next to them, smiling at them both. They look like a family, and Derek can’t help but smile, too.

Peter looks up at the new Hale pack and then back at his new pack next to him. “I hope you don’t mind we made ourselves comfortable. Noah needed a bit of a snack; you know how it is with hungry were-babies.”

“It’s about time for him to eat and we had some formula…” Stiles nudges the bottle against his lips, murmuring, “Come on, I know you can finish, baby boy.” He shrugs at the pack as they watch them and says, “Normally he uses a sippy cup, but when he’s anxious, he goes back to the bottle. It’s okay, the pediatrician says it’s normal.”

“Sure, that’s fine, whatever you need.” Derek sits across from them and his pack all settles around him, watching the baby eat. It’s new to them and there’s more than one wolf whose smell shows how ready they might be for a child of their own. “We can order dinner in tonight, that’s probably easier for everyone.”

“Sounds good, thank you, Derek. Stiles, maybe you need a nap before dinner?”

Stiles yawns and settles Noah over his shoulder, rubbing his back until he hears a little burp. “Yeah, probably. I hope I can sleep, this guy is doing gymnastics,” he says, rubbing his stomach. “Maybe he’s anxious with the moon?”

“Could be, the full moon is in a few days. He’s a little wolf baby, and can probably tell you’re stressed. Defending the pack already,” Peter says, and wraps his hand around the back of Stiles’ neck. “It’ll be nice to have a place to relax again and not feel like we have to constantly look over our shoulders.”

“Do you know he’s a he?” Boyd nods towards Stiles’ stomach.

“Hey, if it’s not too personal – or even if it is – did you need to have two babies so close together?” Erica asks, smirking at Peter. “Couldn’t have managed to give your mate a break, Peter?”

They look at each other and Peter hears Stiles’ heart beat rise. “It wasn’t planned, dear. Accidents happen.”

Stiles blushes and shrugs, smiling shyly, like an omega should. “I guess the lesson is not to believe those stories about not being able to get pregnant your first heat after a birth. Or that you can’t get pregnant if you’re nursing.”

“There you go,” Peter says, and pats Stiles’ hand, raising his eyebrow at Erica and Boyd. “Things for you two to remember, when it’s time.”

“And to answer the original question, no I don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl. Either one is good, of course,” Stiles says, looking at Boyd. “I guess that’s something else I need to do – find a new doctor. One who knows about the whole…” he sighs, letting his eyes flash amber for just a second.

“Deaton might know someone. Worth asking, maybe?” Derek says, looking at his uncle’s frown. “I know he’s not your favorite person, but…”

Peter sighs and tells Stiles, “He was our pack’s emissary, and no he’s not my favorite person, but he may be helpful. I might also have some names from before; probably retired, but maybe they know someone. We’ll find someone good for you.”

Stiles just nods and shifts Noah so he can fall asleep in his arms as he sits back. “Thanks, I know it’ll be okay.” He looks at Derek and smiles, dropping his eyes at the alpha’s glance. “And thank you for the nice room and the furniture. Peter recognized the crib; I guess it’s old or something?”

“My grandfather made it originally,” Peter says. He rests his hand on Noah’s chest, silent while he watches the baby’s chest rise and fall. “My mother and her siblings used it. Then Miriam, Talia, and yes, I slept in that cradle when I was an adorable little baby.” He pauses and his smile at Derek is a little wobbly. “Laura, Derek, Daniel and Cora all used it. It would have been back to my family next.”

Derek nods and says, “We found it in the vault a year or so ago, wrapped up in some blankets. I didn’t realize it was even there. Mom must have put it there for safe keeping, probably waiting for you and Aunt Tricia to need it again.” He stops and checks Peter’s scent, before he asks, “Is it okay? If you don’t like it or if it makes you uncomfortable…”

“It’s perfect, thank you for letting us use it,” Peter says, dropping his hand on Stiles’ neck again. “You don’t mind something so old, do you? We know it can withstand baby werewolf bites, after all.”

Stiles shifts Noah a bit and stretches out his back. “I guess you know there’s no lead paint or anything – or maybe I’m worried about things that would hurt human babies.”

“It’s all pretty safe, I’m sure.” Peter chuckles and reaches over, taking Noah from his father, taking his pain with a quick hand on his arm. “I think the top rails are a quarter inch smaller than when Grandfather originally built it – after every child it would be sanded down and refinished.”

“Too bad, it would have been like when people scratch a kid’s height into the door frame, you know?” Stiles rubs his arm, eyes a little glassy as he yawns. “I’m fading fast and obviously Noah’s out for at least a few hours. He does sleep through the night, but he likes a bedtime snack.” Stiles checks his watch, confirming it’s almost five in the afternoon. Time for everyone to have a nap.

“Let’s hear what Derek thinks about our staying and then we can both rest for a bit before dinner,” Peter says, brushing his nose against Stiles’ temple. There’s a hint of anxiety in the omega’s scent, but it could be because he’s waiting for Derek’s verdict.

“Of course you can stay,” Derek says, eyebrows drawn together as though he’s confused the answer would be anything else. “You can stay here or… if you want to stay at your apartment or whatever, we’ll help you, we’ll support you.” He pauses, taking a breath, shaking his head. “We don’t have a lot of family and we’re not the best family, but we’re all that’s available. I hope you’ll want to stay.”

Peter nods, wrapping his arm around Stiles’ pulling the younger man towards him. Stiles relaxes against him, exhaustion and the general alpha-ness and pack around him helping him to give in. Peter wasn’t sure he’d be able to, but it wouldn’t be surprising if they’re both tense after what they say they’ve been through. “We do, and thank you, Derek. Thank you, all, for letting us in your territory.”

Derek’s eyes flash red for just a second and he says, “It is _my_ territory, Peter. I know you’re older and you’re an alpha now, but this is _my_ territory – mine and my packs’. You can stay here, with your family, but _I_ am the alpha of this territory and if it ever comes down to it, you will follow my orders. Can you agree to this?”

“Yes, alpha,” Peter says easily. He’s looking down, as is customary, and there’s just the slightest red glow on his cheeks from the shine in his eyes. “Understood, and thank you.”

“You can’t create or recruit any new pack members while you’re living here. It would be too confusing and…”

“I absolutely agree,” Peter jumps in, making sure to nuzzle in to Stiles’ hair, trying to calm the racing heartbeats of both him and the cub in his belly. “That’s fine, it would be too confusing.” He smiles at Erica and shrugs, “But when we leave, if anyone wants to come along…”

“You wish, you creeper!” she calls back, flashing her eyes at him while she smiles, all fangs and red lipstick. “Yeah, you’re kinda handsome and superficially charming, but you don’t beat _our_ alpha.”

Everyone looks as there’s a quiet rumble from Stiles. He looks up, eyes wide and then tucks his head into Peter’s shoulder, mumbling, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, darling.” Peter murmurs back, smiling to let Derek’s pack, along with Stiles, know everything’s just fine. “No need to be jealous, our little pack of four is quite fine with me.”

Derek takes a breath and looks at his pack. Some are smiling, some look like they have questions and there’s at least one who looks suspicious and unhappy. But he’s the alpha and what he says goes.

“Okay, it’s settled. You’re here as long as you need to be. Why don’t you both go up and rest up from your drive. We’ll call you when it’s time for dinner.”


	9. Settling In - Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and Stiles get used to the pack and find a baby doctor.

Over the next few weeks Stiles and Peter get used to the new Hale pack and they get used to Peter’s new family.

Noah is a delight, everyone says so. Even Scott seems to be charmed by the little werewolf as he makes his way around the pack house, sometimes stumbling on unstable legs, clinging to furniture or whoever is around and other times he scoots around on his bottom. Scooting is faster, but he’s found he can reach more when he stands.

His vocabulary is getting larger as well, although sometimes only Stiles and Peter seem to understand him.

“He’s saying wolf, he wants to see you shift,” Peter tells Derek. They’re standing outside a few nights from the full moon.  

Derek huffs and raises an eyebrow at his uncle. “How can you say that, you can’t tell.” He bends down and picks up Noah, lifting him so they’re looking eye to eye. “Can you say ‘wolf’ little man?”

“Woo!” Noah answers, and flashes his eyes, reaching out to grab at Derek’s beard. “Woo!” he calls again and it ends in a little howl, one that’s cuter than fierce.

“Is that my boy?” Stiles comes down the stairs, carefully holding the handrail. “Does my baby boy know how to howl? Should I be proud? I feel like I should be proud.”

“You should be,” Peter announces, making sure to touch both Noah and Derek as he passes them. He pulls Stiles close to him with a hand around his waist. “He’s a very smart, talented pupper. Like his pup of a father.”

“I’m a pup and he’s a pupper?” Stiles asks. He’s becomes used to the casual touch of this pack and especially the casual touches he gets from Peter. He rubs his stomach and pulls Peter’s hand over to rub his swelling belly along with him. “So what’s the little one?”

“Puppest, I suppose. Don’t you think Derek should shift for the little one? Show him what an alpha wolf looks like?”

“Why don’t you? Or do you not want to shock everyone with your awesomeness?” Erica snatches Noah from her alpha and sits on the top step of the porch. She smiles up at Boyd and flutters her eyelashes at him. “Does this give you any ideas, sweetie?”

Boyd nods, cupping a hand over the baby’s head, his hand large enough to almost cover it. “Yeah, more mouths to feed. I’ve got dinner in the slow cookers – beef and pork tacos, along with beans, rice and salad. Question is, do you want dessert tonight? Because if so, I’m going to need to go to the store.”

“Of course we should have dessert! What kind of question is that, right, Stiles?”

Stiles looks at Erica and shrugs. “If anyone has time to run to the store for us, we can put something together.”

“I’ll drive,” Boyd says, giving Stiles a slightly puzzled look. “I gotta say, it is easier cooking for everyone when we’re doing things together. Why don’t you pick dessert?”

Peter tries to hide a smile at Stiles’ momentary flash of panic. “I know you said you wanted to get some different foods for Noah to try. Why don’t the two of you go and get whatever you need. And yes, pick dessert.”

“I have a recipe for these pecan bars with chocolate. The recipe makes a ton, so that would be good. But you’re okay if we go alone? Leave Noah here and just us two going?” Stiles asks, looking at the pack around him. They have small smiles on their faces, not mentioning the mixed scent of anxiousness and happiness coming from him. “Maybe we should bring Noah so he doesn’t bother anyone?”

“I’m thinking with everyone here, we can probably manage one small child,” Peter answers, watching Erica help Noah towards the railings where he’ll pull himself from post to post around the front porch.

“Well, if you’re sure… and it’s okay?” Stiles asks one more time, looking towards Derek for the alpha’s approval.

“Take your time,” the alpha says, easing himself into the hammock hanging on the porch. “I’m napping, you guys enjoy yourselves.”

“I’ve already got a list, we add in stuff for dessert and we’re good.” Boyd holds out his hand and waits for someone to give him keys.

“Here, take mine,” Peter says, tossing over his keys. “Be careful, my family is in your hands.”

 

“We’re going to Whole Foods,” Boyd says as they pull onto the freeway. “I know it’s a little further, but they have the best meat and feeding werewolves…”

“Sure, whatever,” Stiles answers, forcing himself to keep looking forward. Never look back, that’s his motto. “They have good coffee, too, Peter likes his coffee really strong.”

“Yeah.” Boyd glances over, giving a subtle sniff to check on Stiles’ nerves. “You don’t go out by yourself? Did Peter not let you or something?”

“Umm, it seemed there was always something going on and I got pregnant right off and had morning sickness really bad all day and then had Noah and then got pregnant again right away and… it just kinda didn’t happen.”

Something smells off, but Boyd knows Stiles is often nervous. He can’t imagine what it would be like to have your pack killed, especially when caring for a baby. “I guess so. You know, if you ever want to talk to someone about what happened or if you’re worried about anything, you can talk to me. Or Erica or Derek, of course.”

“Talk about what?” Stiles wills his heart beat to slow, rubbing his belly where his child is doing somersaults.

“Anything.” Boyd shrugs. “It looks like… well, it looks like Peter takes really good care of you and cares for you. I’ve been told he’s kind of a, I don’t know.” Boyd sighs, trying to get his thoughts together. “Erica says he’s sneaky and dangerous, but she says it’s good and he knows a lot about how packs should run and how to protect everyone. Scott just says he’s evil and he makes it sound like he’s crazy. Sorry.”

“It’s okay, Peter’s told me that Scott doesn’t like him. I guess it’s mutual, but Peter won’t hurt him; I can’t say the same thing about Scott.”

“Derek wouldn’t let him, you know. I know they had problems before…”

Stiles snorts, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah, like when Derek ripped his throat out. I heard all about it. Weird family dynamics. But Peter’s really good to me. To us.” He rubs his stomach again and says, “I know he’s, well, maybe not quite right, but who is? And besides, he’s supporting us, physically and emotionally. He cares for us. Maybe he’s not right, but he’s right for us if that make sense.”

“Sure, I get it. Can’t deny he does care for you guys. For you, you know.” They’re quiet for a few minutes, lost in thought while Boyd drives, getting closer to a bigger city a couple of towns over with a larger variety of stores. “I remember when my mom told me about being an omega and what it meant and I just thought ‘oh hell no’ and expected it would be terrible. But I guess we both got lucky. I’m not stupid enough to think everyone has what we do, but we both have alphas who really seem to care that we’re happy.”

Stiles nods, pressing his belly where he can feel a knee or heel or elbow. Something pointy at any rate. “Yeah, I guess we are lucky.”

 

It feels good fitting in, being part of an actual functioning pack. Everyone has their roles, but if someone needs help, it’s always there. For the most part, Boyd and Stiles handle the cooking, with others jumping in, cutting vegetables or just hanging out to keep them company. In this pack, people _want_ to be around the omegas.

Derek doesn’t help, but does stick his nose in, asking what they’re doing and being a willing taste-tester. Erica offers to help, but gets bored pretty quickly, peeling one carrot, then grabbing Boyd’s ass before she leaves. Kira’s actually helpful, sort of. She means well, at least, but for a skilled warrior with a sword, she’s frighteningly clumsy with a kitchen knife. Peter’s pushy, not surprisingly, tasting and suggesting seasonings. Boyd doesn’t have a problem slapping his hand to make him keep his suggestions to himself. Scott likes things spicy, so there’s usually some type of salsa or slices of peppers on the side, ready for whoever wants them. Stiles is surprised to find he likes a bit of heat – it wasn’t an option before but he’s usually up for a spoonful of diced jalapenos or some chipotle powder in just about anything. Isaac pokes his head in, but always seems concerned he’ll be asked to help. They don’t ask him and they don’t try to keep him in the kitchen. Boyd usually shoves something at him and pushes him out the door. Lydia, on the other hand, is welcome even if she just sits at the table, answering work emails and keeping them company.

Boyd’s aware that Stiles gets tired when he’s standing too long and will either try to kick him out or at least get him sitting at the kitchen table doing something. There’s always potatoes and carrots to be peeled or some fruit or another that needs to be cleaned and that can be done sitting down.

And sometimes Stiles dozes off in the kitchen, surrounded by warmth and pack and the smell of dinner cooking.

 

It’s also okay sharing a room and sharing a bed with Peter. Peter gets up to check on Noah when he fusses during the night, and doesn’t even mind changing the messiest of diapers.

Even though he’s a werewolf, Stiles’ feet still get cold during his pregnancy and Peter’s a great source of warmth, only giving an “umph” the first time Stiles put his freezing feet against the older man’s calves. And if he wakes Stiles up when he’s having a Deucalion-fueled nightmare, pulling him close to cuddle, it’s only what a pretend-alpha should do, right?

 

“Nice to meet you, Stiles,” the doctor says, as she warmly shakes his hand. Omega then, or at least a beta. An alpha wouldn’t touch a mated omega, especially not one who’s pregnant. Pregnant and the parent of a baby as well.

“Nice to meet you, too, Dr. Patel. This is Peter, he’s…” Stiles smiles at Peter and then back at the doctor. “He’s my alpha.” His heart barely skips a beat.

“Nice to meet you.” Peter nods and rubs Stiles’ shoulder, nudging his nose in to Stiles’ hair. Their pack bond thrums in his chest. “I’ll be staying in with my mate.”

“Of course. Let’s get the ultrasound going and take a look at how the little guy – or girl – is developing.”

She pulls the machine over and helps Stiles get comfortable on the table, monitor within eyesight. “You’re twenty-three weeks, right?”

Stiles nods and Peter answers for him. “Yes, six months in just a week, which I guess is twenty-three weeks?”

Dr. Patel runs the wand over Stiles’ stomach, watching the monitor. “See? We have a head and arms right there,” she says, pointing at two little lines. “Do you want to know the baby’s gender?”

“Do we?” Stiles asks Peter and the older wolf shrugs. “Okay. It doesn’t make a difference, but at least I can call him a him – or her. Yes, please, tell me.”

“Well, your baby is certainly a wiggler, I’m sure you know that.” She smiles and points at the screen again. “And she’s not shy either.” She clicks a button on the screen and says, “The first picture of your daughter.”

“Wow. Wow, a little girl. I’ll have a boy and a girl.” Stiles looks up at Peter and suddenly shuts his mouth with a click of his teeth and a frown.

Peter tries not to be hurt, because why should he be? Stiles is an omega and a pack member, but he’s not Peter’s omega, not really. “Congratulations. To us both, to all of us,” he amends, noting a quick, dark scent from the doctor. “You know we’ll get asked when we get home.”

“Good thing we have a car ride so I can get used to it,” Stiles replies, reaching over to take Peter’s hand; he noticed her scent, too. “So what’s next? My last doctor saw me every month at this point.”

Dr. Patel smiles, finishing with the ultra sound and helping Stiles pull down his shirt after wiping the gel off his stomach. “That sounds about right. I’d say a seven month and eight month check. Then weekly through delivery. Oh, one thing I should tell you about – I will probably be out of town for your eight month check, I’m helping move my grandmother into a senior living facility and my mother is freaking out and…” She shakes her head and takes a breath. “That doesn’t matter. At any rate, I will have a back-up, totally versed in any potential issues – not that I expect any, from what I can see, you and your daughter are both wonderfully healthy. But, back-up for month eight and I am absolutely back for your delivery. Which we can have here or at your house or wherever you’re most comfortable. You two should discuss that if you haven’t already.”

“Yes, we will. However you’re more comfortable,” Peter says, after he makes sure Stiles is sitting up, listening to the doctor.

“I also have a list of pediatricians you might want to talk with. You have time, but I’m sure you’ll want one before the baby’s actually born. Unless you already found one for Noah?”

Stiles’ heart beat jumps and he turns towards Peter, scent going sharp and scared. “I don’t! We don’t have a doctor for Noah, what if something happened to him?”

“Stiles, he’s a werewolf baby, he’s fine and there isn’t a lot that can hurt him.” Peter sits on the table next to him, taking his hand, lacing their fingers together. “Yes, we’ll need a pediatrician, but don’t panic quite yet.” He turns to the doctor and lets his eyes flash “I take it they’re all familiar with…”

“Oh yes. In fact one of them, Dr. Zander is a werefox herself.” She puts a hand on each of their shoulders, squeezing gently. Not pack, but important to them now. “Everything looks good and healthy. You have a strong daughter and we’ll see her very soon.”

 

They sit in the car for a few minutes, just silently thinking about the visit.

“I’m having a daughter, Peter. A little girl, can you believe that?”

Peter grins and squeezes the back of Stiles’ neck, feeling the pack bond flare between them. “I can believe it and congratulations. The pack will be happy to hear that. Kira asked how you felt about a baby shower, and I’m sure they’ll like to buy girl clothes.”

“Baby shower?” Stiles asks, scent going happy and surprised.

“Kira asked if it was okay and Lydia just said it was happening. She’s like that.” Peter pulls out of the parking lot and starts their drive home. It’s a little bit of travel; there’s not werewolf obstetricians at every street corner, after all. “They also want to know what we’re doing for Noah’s birthday. Apparently a party is expected, including a special cake that he’s expected to eat with his hands.”

Stiles shrugs and says, “They’ve seen him eat, everything’s still with his hands. But it would be nice to have a little something for him and just… just be a pack together, I guess.”

“Children are important to a pack, everyone wants to be sure they’re taken care of and happy. You’re comfortable leaving them with the pack when we’re out, doing something like this, aren’t you?” Peter looks over, genuinely curious. “You seem okay when you go to the grocery store or other errands.”

“I am. I’m surprised, but I know…” he shrugs again and says, “I know everyone _wants_ to take care of him, it’s not a chore, they want to. I mean, it’s because they think he’s related to Derek, sure, but for now, they’re taking care of him.”

“There’s that, but it’s also because he’s a baby and people like babies. And Noah, at least, seems to like the pack as well.” Peter chuckles, turning onto the freeway that will take them back to home. “You know his first steps by himself were towards Derek.”

“Oh, believe me, I know, Derek only says it about every day. I still say the only reason Noah goes to him is Derek is always offering him cookies.” Stiles pats his belly and leans back, rearranging the seat belt around his growing bump. “Speaking of offering food, my daughter – my daughter, Peter – would like some ice cream for lunch. A lot of ice cream.”

Peter pulls off towards the pack’s favorite place for indulgent desserts. “I won’t question the nutritional needs of a young lady werewolf.


	10. Three Milestones and Problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noah has a birthday, Scott acts nice (for a bit), Peter and Stiles get closer, and surprise! The alpha pack is dead!

 

It only takes half a dozen or so times with Stiles crying when a present is unwrapped before the pack gets used to it. Sometimes he cries when Noah does something cute, or something not very cute. He’s pretty much on an emotional roller-coaster, but Peter says it’s normal and they’re getting used to it.

It’s Noah’s first birthday and Derek offers him a bit of his cake, and promptly gets his finger bit, drawing blood.

“Hormones. I’m sorry,” Stiles says, wiping his eyes on his shirt sleeve. “My baby has little fangs, he’s not such a baby anymore.”

“He’s had fangs for a while, Stiles,” Erica says, showing Noah the oversized Lego blocks and watching as he tries to shove it in his mouth along with the chocolate cake. There’s a lot of chocolate cake and it’s pretty much everywhere. “Are all babies this hungry for everything, always?”

Everyone looks over as Stiles whimpers, holding something in front of him.

“Dear heart, what is wrong?” Peter asks, moving towards the crying omega.

“Look!” Stiles wipes his eyes, holding up a romper. “‘I’m the Big Brother!’ He’s going to be a big brother! My little baby is going to be a big brother to someone! He’s too little to be a big brother!”

“Yes, he is going to be a big brother, he very much is.” Peter folds the item and stacks it with the small stack of clothing next to Stiles. “I’m sure he’ll like it.”

Stiles pats the stack and tucks his head against Peter’s shoulder. “These need to be washed. Get rid of any chemicals or something. I dunno, it’s what you do.”

Peter takes a deep smell of Stiles’ hair. Omega and hormones, plus milk, cakes and pack-pack-pack. It smells like heaven. “We’ll do that before we put them away. And you’ll have some more things to wash and fold for the baby girl, you know.”

“We thought it wasn’t fair to combine Noah’s birthday with your baby shower, so next Saturday is baby shower day.” Kira pops the last of a bite of cupcake into her mouth and smiles at Scott.

Even he can’t scowl today, clicking his claws against Noah’s tiny ones. “Oh, the other thing for today! Puppies!”

“Puppies?” Stiles asks, sitting up and looking at Peter as though he’d know. Not likely, he avoids Scott as much as Scott avoids him. “What about puppies? I love puppies – I mean, I used to, I don’t know if they still like me now that….”

“Don’t worry, the good thing about puppies is they’re dumb,” Boyd states with Erica nodding next to him. “We’ve gone and seen a few at the vet’s office with Scott. Cute, dumb puppies and they don’t know enough to be scared of us.” He turns to the pack’s second in command, raising an eyebrow. “You got puppies for Noah’s birthday?”

“Yup.” Scott nods, looking and smelling proud. “If it’s okay with you both, I thought we could take Noah on a field trip to work and he could meet some pups. They’re pit mixes, and really sweet and small. They’re in to get fixed tomorrow. If you guys think it’s okay for Noah, that is.”

Stiles looks to Peter, who tries to keep the surprise off his face when he’s treated like the actual alpha of their family. “I think it’s fine if you want to go, Stiles. Noah’s still so full of sugar and excitement, this might be what he needs to tire him out.”

Nodding, Stiles pushes himself off the couch, using Peter’s shoulder to assist him. “I’m in! We’re in, I mean. Peter, are you coming?”

Peter shakes his head, swinging his feet up on the couch. “No, you go, dear and take some pictures. I’m staying here, maybe I’ll have a nap so I have some energy for later.”

“Grrr!” Erica flashes her eyes and laughs. “Birthday cake gets your motor running, Uncle Creepy?”

Eyes flashing, Derek crosses his arms over his chest. “Erica. Not everything is a sexual innuendo.”

“In your end-o, alpha,” she mutters, pushing Boyd towards the door. “Come on, guys, there’s puppies waiting!”

It takes a couple of minutes to get everyone out of the house, leaving only Peter and Derek, flopped down on the couch. “They’re exhausting,” Derek says, shaking his head, while his scent is nothing but content. “I thought they might grow up when they were growing up, but…”

“You’ll never change Erica and shouldn’t try. Nice of Scott to offer this, too.” Peter yawns and slips lower on the couch, bunching the pillow under his head. “They’ll be at least an hour. We can crash for thirty minutes or so and still have time to clean up. Agree?”

Derek puts his feet on the coffee table, pushing aside a small stack of Noah’s new books, gifts from Lydia. “We’re pretty good alphas. Set your alarm, I need a nap.”

 

Rather than coming home exhausted as hoped, Noah’s still revved up from his birthday party and the puppies. Stiles is the one exhausted, so Peter tucks him into bed, giving him a sandwich made of plenty of slices of rare steak, just like he likes.

“So good, Peter, thank you. But I should be cooking for you, I should be up taking care of Noah and…”

Peter gently pushes Stiles back onto the bed, tucking the sheets around him and making sure the plate doesn’t tip over. “Shh, you’re exhausted, you’ve had a busy day. The pack’s still here and last I saw Isaac was wheeling Noah around in his new jeep. I swear that boy likes it at least as much as Noah.”

“Isaac’s okay, a little snarky, but okay. And hey, I’m used to a little snarky,” he says, briefly smiling up at Peter before his scent goes cloudy. “I like it here, Peter. I don’t know if this pack is special or if my prior pack was so awful that this is ordinary, but I like it here and I like these people.”

Nodding, Peter shrugs and sits next to Stiles, leaning against the headboard. “I like it here, too, it’s where I grew up after all. The city, downtown is different of course, new shops and more choices I guess, but overall? It’s home to me. We have time, though, to decide what to do. As I said, if you want to stay, you can.”

Stiles puts his clean plate on the bedside table and snorts quietly. “I don’t think I could stay if you don’t. I mean, if that’s okay. Noah really loves you and, well… I like you a lot, too.” He grins when Peter’s scent goes bright and happy. When he’s happy he smells even more like the outside, like fresh cut grass. Stiles rests his head on Peter’s chest and Peter’s arm goes around him rubbing up and down his back, making him even drowsier.

“As I said, we have time to figure out what to do. Let’s just get the baby out first.”

 

Peter isn’t sure what wakes him. Stiles’ quiet whine, the bed moving, the sound of the sheets rustling. But once he’s awake, the scent hits him. Omega and arousal and Stiles. Pre-come and slick and Peter lets out a small growl before he’s even aware of it.

So of course, Stiles freezes, scent of shame almost, but not quite, drowning out the earlier scents of his pleasure. “I’m sorry.”

Peter’s not sure he’d be welcome, but he can’t stop himself from saying, “You’ve nothing to be sorry for, part of pregnancy hormones as well. Now, I can leave the room and let you finish. I can roll over and let you finish. Or, if you’d like, I can help you.”

Stiles gulps and his scent turns back to sweet and interested and Peter can hear the sheets shift as his hand moves. “You could help?”

“You’re an omega in need and again, I want to help you. You can think of it as a friend being helpful.”

“Friends with benefits then? I’ve heard of that, never expected it.” Stiles shifts under the covers and Peter gets hit with more of his scent as he spreads his thighs a little. “If I said yes…”

Peter swallows, mouth suddenly watering. “Whatever you’d like, however I can help you. It doesn’t have to be penetration if you don’t want it. I could literally lend you a hand. Or use my mouth. I don’t want to brag, but I’ve been told I’m skilled there.”

“Your mouth?” Stiles asks, and Peter’s pretty sure any remaining oxygen has left the room. “You would – I’ve never – if it didn’t create a baby or wasn’t for his pleasure it wasn’t something…”

“Oh darling.” Stiles smells warm and willing, but Peter won’t touch him until Stiles actually says to. “I can’t imagine how anyone wouldn’t want you like that. I could… If you’d let me, if you want me to.”

Stiles wiggles under the covers, edging closer to Peter. “I… Please could you?”

He moves to Stiles, kneeling between the younger man’s knees. “Can you tell me what you’d like, where I can touch, what I shouldn’t do? Do you like your cock touched or your cunt?”

“I don’t know, Peter, I don’t…”

“If you trust me, I’ll drive and you tell me if you don’t like something. If you want me to stop or slow down, just say stop or slow down, okay?” Later, if there’s ever a later, they can talk about safewords and some other things, but the poor boy is starting to smell more anxious than ever. Aroused still, but clearly this isn’t something he’s used to. “Okay for me to take off your sleep pants?” Peter asks as he starts pulling them down Stiles’ hips.

He lifts his hips to help, but at the same time whispers, “I didn’t shower before bed, I’m probably…”

“Perfect? You’re perfect, love.” Peter braces himself on one arm next to Stiles’ hip while his other hand brushes across his rounded belly. He rubs his nose in the sweet scent where his hip and thigh meet, and gives an experimental lick.

“Oh, holy fuck,” Stiles moans, hand reaching out to Peter’s shoulder. “I hope your expectations are really low because this isn’t going to take long.”

“I could tease you a bit, if you want,” Peter whispers, looking up to see Stiles looking down at him. His eyes are glowing their warm wolf yellow and he’s panting already. “But I won’t.” Not this time, he thinks.

Peter’s been with men and woman, alphas and betas. His wife was an omega and there was one male omega in his past, a handsome man who worked at a brothel during Peter’s lost years in Europe when he was supposed to be in college. So he has some experience with almost every type of person, but he wants this to be the best.

Stiles’ cock is hard and dribbling on his stomach, so Peter gives it a lick, chasing it over his belly, smiling at the omega’s moans.

“Like that, okay,” he murmurs, and uses the slick to moisten his thumb to rub around the boy’s clit in small circles.

“Oh god, yes, please do that again,” Stiles pants, moving his hand to grip Peter’s hair, almost too hard, but Peter wouldn’t try to stop this.

“How about this?” Peter asks, slipping two fingers inside Stiles as he puts his mouth around Stiles’ cock, bobbing his head. Stiles isn’t too large, typical for a male omega and Peter can take all of him without gagging. He moves a hand to Stiles’ side, not quite holding him down, just making sure he doesn’t choke or get his nose smashed by the boy’s bucking hips.

Peter feels Stiles’ muscles squeeze his fingers, knowing he’s given him orgasms from both areas. He can’t help but feel proud, both as a wolf and an alpha; another way he can take care of the omega and packmate.

“God, god, god, oh my god,” Stiles moans, arm thrown over his eyes as he starts to catch his breath. “Peter, that’s… God, that’s better than when I was in heat. Thank you, thank you.”

Stiles’ heartbeat stays steady and Peter can’t help but preen, leaving little kisses on Stiles’ thighs. He carefully laps up more of the slick dripping from his cunt, carefully avoiding his red, swollen clit that’s probably too tender after such a powerful orgasm. “You’re delicious, darling, believe me, this is no hardship.”

“Come here.” Stiles pulls Peter up and into his arms, turning carefully so they’re facing each other. “Is this okay?” he asks, kissing Peter gently, sucking on his lower lip. “Can I do something for you? You’re ready, so ready.”

Peter feels the back of Stiles’ hand brushing across his cock, his scent full of interest and satisfaction. “I’m fine, Stiles, thank you. This was about you.”

“If it’s about me, then I want you to come. I want to see it and smell it and taste it. With an alpha I like and can respect. Someone I choose to be with.” He rolls on his back, running his hand down his own chest, pinching his nipple before his hand circles his round belly. “You should come on me, alpha. Leave your scent on me the way my scent is on you.”

It’s something Peter can’t resist, not that he wants to. He pulls out his cock and using the slick on his hand, it takes only a few strokes before it hits like a punch to the stomach. He watches his come splash across the omega’s belly and thighs through half-closed eyes, noting Stiles taking in deep breaths, obviously satisfied by their shared aromas.

Peter doesn’t quite collapse on top of Stiles, he falls back on his side of the bed, but this time, Stiles backs up against him, letting Peter be the big spoon.

“So’kay?” the omega mutters, already half asleep, still covered in Peter’s drying come.

“Pretty perfect,” Peter answers, chewing gently on the back of Stiles’ neck. They can figure it out in the morning.

 

Morning starts a little later for Peter and Stiles and when they stumble down the stairs into the kitchen, Peter heads for the coffee pot. Stiles gets one cup of coffee each day and of course he wants it first thing in the morning. While an adult werewolf isn’t affected too much by caffeine, the baby still reacts like any human fetus when she’s had too much caffeine.

“Move,” Peter grunts at Erica, watching to be sure Stiles is sitting with his coffee.

She gets up and sits on Boyd’s other side, squeezing Noah’s neck as she passes. “Okay,” she answers, grinning up at him and sniffing the air. “So, someone had a good night or morning. Or both. Good for you.”

“Erica, don’t be rude,” Derek says, scrubbing his face with his hand and flipping through his phone, but he does take a quick breath. “Leave them alone.”

Blushing, Stiles sips his coffee. “I showered. We both showered.”

Peter snarls, flashing his eyes at her. “We did and sorry, but that was a bit rude, Erica.” He takes a breath and looks away, taking Noah from Boyd’s lap. “I know I’ve disappointed Stiles, but it’s a little difficult to think about physical relationships after your pack’s been killed – for a second time. You don’t need to point out that I’ve been avoiding my responsibilities and…”

“Peter, don’t, please,” Stiles says, pushing his face into Peter’s neck. His heart is pounding and so is the baby’s, both anxious for the alpha’s apparent distress, while secretly pleased that Peter’s saying this, taking the blame. Being a good, protective alpha.

“I’m sorry, Peter, I’m sorry.” Erica scoots closer to Peter’s chair, hand resting on his leg. “It’s just… I’ve been so worried about you two because you seemed good, but it didn’t smell like stuff was happening, and I like you here and want you to be happy here and…”

“Oh, it’s okay, both of you.” Peter kisses Stiles head and rubs Erica’s back before pushing her gently away. “It’s fine. Everything is fine, we’re good, thank you for caring, I suppose. And you,” he says, turning to Stiles. “You need to calm down, remember your daughter. But thank you.” He leans over and give Stiles a peck on the lips, hoping he isn’t overstepping. After all, it’s just a play to Stiles, and one night doesn’t change things. Things said during sex or that floaty period after don’t count.

To Peter’s relief, Stiles just cups his cheek and smiles slightly. “We’re okay, all of us. And by the way, this is more drama before breakfast than even I’m used to!”

Noah picks now to look at his father and ask, “Egg? Da, egg?”

“Yes, love, in just a minute,” Stiles tells him, taking half of Erica’s toast with a small smile.  “Here you go, baby.”

“Well, if you’re all okay and eating and can take a little more good news, I’ve got an update.” Derek pours himself another cup of coffee, leaning against the kitchen counter. Even leaning against the counter, he still looks like an alpha. “I heard from Chris Argent this morning.”

“Argent?” Peter asks, taking Stiles’ hand when his heart starts racing. “Stiles is aware of the family, yes. What did dear old Christopher want?”

“He heard you were here and what happened and wanted to let me know you don’t have anything more to worry about the alpha pack. They’re all dead.”

“All? The whole pack?” Peter asks, and he looks surprised. His heart beat skips a bit, but that’s probably not unexpected, given what is supposed to be news. “Did he say how or when?”

“They killed some humans, I guess as collateral damage and Chris’ hunters took them all out. I didn’t get much in the way of details, he just told me they were gone. In case we were worried; I guess because he knows you’re here.” Derek shrugs and really doesn’t look that concerned.

“Chris has a way of knowing things, that’s for certain. And he does keep track of werewolves. And your pack, Derek.” Peter smirks, getting up and bringing the coffee pot over to the table to refill everyone’s cup. Stiles gets a small splash and smiles up his thanks.

“Good news about the alpha pack; it means you’ll be able to leave soon.” Scott leads in Isaac and Kira and she puts a box of donuts on the table with a small smile.

“Thanks for the donuts, Scott, and as you can see, Stiles is pregnant and not ready to leave here, alpha pack or no alpha pack,” Erica says, pulling the box towards her. She grabs two, putting one on Boyd’s napkin and shoving half of the other into her mouth. “Oh, and you’re not our alpha,” she adds, spitting out a bit of powdered sugar.

“That’s all true, and thank you, Erica, don’t talk with your mouth full.” Derek turns to his second and raises an eyebrow. “And Scott, they aren’t leaving until after Stiles has the baby and then whenever they want to. If Peter wants to start his own pack, they’ll need to leave and do it elsewhere, just as we discussed. Thank you for your suggestions, I appreciate it as you’re _my second_ – but Peter and Stiles are family and they’re welcome here.” He roots in the box and pulls out a jelly donut, taking a large bite before he says, “Any questions or concerns?”

“No, understood, alpha,” Isaac says and then salutes.

“You bit them,” Peter points out. Then he nods, tilting his head slightly. “Thank you, Derek, we appreciate the news and your continued support.”


	11. The Shit Hits the Fan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles is a smart mate. Meet the doctor. The truth comes out.

 

It’s not like he has a choice. Stiles will have a baby shower, that’s the order from the rest of the pack. After a bit of whining about it, he actually enjoys the planning and the small party. It’s pretty similar to Noah’s birthday party a month earlier, but this one has a pink and purple decorations instead of the blue and red trucks and dinosaur balloons that Noah played with.

“I don’t want to do one of those gender reveal things or to have everything be all pink and frilly. Just because she’s a girl doesn’t mean she won’t be a fierce werebaby. She’s pretty athletic now.” He rubs his belly and pulls Noah towards him rubbing their heads together. “Who is going to be a good big brother? Is it you?”

“Me!” Noah yells and squirms away until he hits the floor and runs towards Erica.

“You deserve another party, because you have good taste,” Erica tells the boy, scooping him up and tossing him over her shoulder. “We’re going outside, Stiles, to look for mice.”

“Don’t let my child eat mice, Erica!”

Isaac is already stripping, getting ready to shift as he calls back, “Not yet, but no promises when he can shift!”

 

Scott snorts softly, slumping down into one of the recliners in the large living room. He takes a sip of his coke and says, “I don’t know why we need an agreement with the Cho pack. They’re north of us and I don’t know how any treaty with them would help us. Anyway, the alpha pack is gone and they were the biggest threat, right?”

“Yes, they’re north of you and that’s good. Think of it as part of a wall between your pack and anything east. Nothing can get north of you and come down. It’s a good idea, Scott, Derek,” Peter says, pushing the map towards the Hale pack alpha. He uses his finger to draw lines on the map, explaining his thoughts. “Assume the attack comes from the east, which is logical, of course. They wouldn’t attack directly to us, but going either north or south and then coming from there, they could basically get behind us – that’s why we want the Cho’s. An alliance with them would prevent that.”

Scott studies the map and finally he shrugs, looking towards Derek. “Okay, I can see that. But when you look at it that way, why would the Cho’s want to have an alliance with us? If the decided not to, they could partner with whoever wanted to attack us, right?”

“The Hale pack is strong and good for an alliance. There’s two Hales in it, and there’s a good reputation there by itself. Add in several betas, two omegas to make the pack grow, a kitsune and a banshee and it’s a pretty amazing pack.” Stiles looks up from the couch where he’s been folding the tiny clothes for his daughter, fresh from the wash. “I mean, I think that’s right, right? From a logical point of view, it seems like a good pack for an alliance, doesn’t it?”

Peter crosses his arms over his chest, cheesy smile on his face. “My mate is an attentive, wonderful parent and very smart as well. The reasons he’s just listed are why any pack, anywhere, would want to have an alliance with the Hale pack. Questions?”

“In a little while, we won’t have two Hales or two omegas, remember?” Scott asks, flashing his eyes at Peter.

Stiles doesn’t even realize he’s growled until the baby kicks, her elbow obvious through his t-shirt. Peter puts a comforting hand on his shoulder, turning back to Scott. “Easy darling, Daddy’s got this.”

Before Peter can say anything, Derek steps between them. “Actually, Alpha’s got this,” he says, giving a small smile to Stiles. “Scott, we never know when someone in the pack will leave; they may decide to marry and move to another pack, or they may move for a job or any other reason. This is reality in a twenty-first century pack. We negotiate with the pack we have now and if the dynamics change after the alliance is signed…” He shrugs and grins, full of fang. “Oh, well.”

Peter sits next to Stiles, holding up a tiny white dress. “What a good alpha you’ve become. Your mother would be proud,” he murmurs, knowing Derek will hear. He hands the dress to Stiles, leaning over to kiss his temple, taking a minute to enjoy the warmth in his chest; it’s the pack bond from both Derek and Stiles and he sends his contentment back to both. “Now, let’s discuss how we reach out to the Cho’s. Derek?”

 

The initial overture to the Cho Pack is well received, just as predicted. Derek and Scott will visit them later in the month, and at the pack’s suggestion, they’ll have a celebratory dinner. It’s basically just another excuse for everyone to get together and socialize, but no one complains.

“Ugh, I don’t know why I’m here, I’m as big as a house. I wasn’t this big with Noah, at least not this early.”

“You’re being spoiled is what it is,” Peter says gently, taking Stiles’ hand as they walk towards the mega-market. “I’m not saying you shouldn’t eat all the sweets that Erica gives you, but maybe you might pace yourself a little.”

“Boyd likes to bake and Erica likes to share it, it’s not my fault,” Stiles answers, squeezing Peter’s hand. It’s warm and comforting and he no longer even kids himself that it’s just for the other members in the pack.

Derek raises an eyebrow at his beta, and asks, “Why are you here, Scott? Pretty sure we could have managed this.”

“I have a list from Kira and Isaac,” he says, pulling out his phone. “They’ve both got some specific requests for things they want.”

“So what’s with that? The three of you, it’s kind of interesting,” Peter asks, nor bothering to try to hide his chuckle.

Stiles grins as well, showing a tiny bit of teeth. “Yeah, Scott, is there something you want to share with the class?”

Before Scott can answer, a man walking towards them calls out, “Stiles? Stiles, hello, it’s nice to see you!”

The smile falls off Stiles’ face and his heart starts racing. “Dr. Gunther? Hello, um, what are you doing here?”

“I’ll be filling in for Dr. Patel while she’s out. We were looking at her records and even with the different last name, I thought it must be you, your first name’s so unusual!” He looks at the group and focuses in on Peter, who’s staring intently at him. “You must be Stiles’ new alpha, I recognize the growl coming on. I have to say, I’m happy you’re with someone new, Stiles. Your last alpha… I just didn’t get a good feeling about him and never felt he was good for you. Anyway, I’ll be seeing you both at your next appointment, right? Last one before you deliver, I think?”

“Yes, last one,” Stiles whispers, moving closer to Peter. “See you soon, Doctor.”

“Bye, all! Congratulations to your pack!” the doctor calls out as he pushes his bags into the car and gets into the front seat.

No one says anything for a long moment, watching the doctor’s car drive away, but the smell of anger and hurt and fear and pure fury simmers around them.

“Get in the car,” Derek orders, turning back towards the SUV that Peter makes fun of.

“Derek, it sounds like we may need to explain a few things…” Peter starts and Derek whirls on him.

“Get your asses in the car right now,” he barks out, eyes glowing bright red.

Stiles turns, head down and arms holding his belly and whispers, “Yes, alpha.”

 

The drive home is quiet, if you don’t count the hearts pounding and occasional growls. Derek drives must faster than usual, barely even slowing down for stop signs and speeding up for yellow lights.

When they get back to the house, he doesn’t wait for the others, storming into the house.

Erica meets them in the living room, sniffing the air and wrinkling her nose at the bitter scent from everyone. “Is something wrong, Derek?”

He nods quickly and moves past her, brushing a hand on her shoulder to let her know he’s not upset with her. “Is Noah asleep?” When she nods, looking at Stiles with his head bowed, smelling scared and miserable, Derek says, “Good, please go upstairs and sit with him. Don’t come down unless I specifically call you.”

“Yes, Alpha,” she says quickly, turning and practically running up the stairs.

“You fucking lied, I knew it, I knew you’d be lying!” Scott yells at the both, but mainly at Peter. “What all else have you been lying about? What’s your plan, Peter, because you have one, you always do!”

“Scott, sit down,” Derek orders, flashing his eyes before he turns towards his uncle. “Peter, you… you’re not mated and Noah isn’t yours? So whose baby is he and where is the other parent?”

“Noah isn’t mine by birth, but I’ve been more of a father to him than he cur that sired him,” Peter sneers back, holding Stiles’ hand. “Darling, you need to breathe, it’ll be fine. We will be fine, all four of us.”

“Stop calling him darling, we’re on to your stupid little game.” Scott starts to stand, but when Derek glares at him, he sits, face shifted and fangs showing. “You could be in danger, Derek, that’s what’s important here.”

“How did you meet and how did you end up here? Was anything you’ve said true?” Derek asks and now his scent is going from furious to resigned. 

“I did kill Ennis, that’s true. And they did attack and kill my entire pack, also very true.” He shrugs and looks down, seeing thin black lines up his arms. He hadn’t realized he was taking Stiles’ pain or that Stiles was in pain. After Stiles shakes his head at the unasked question, Peter looks back to Derek. “There’s a lot of other things true and some things… perhaps avoided is a better explanation.”

Derek snarls, “What did you avoid saying, Peter? Perhaps you might want to tell us how you ended up here with Stiles. Who the baby’s parent is and when are they going to come looking for them?”

“No one will come looking for him, they’re dead,” Stiles says quietly, pulling his hand away when he seems the pain lines in Peter’s arm. He shuts his eyes for a minute then says, “They’re dead and they wouldn’t care anyway. Biologically, Noah’s father was Deucalion. He’s the alpha who chose me.”

Stiles takes a breath and looks at Derek, eyes glowing yellow. “When I was 14, I went to the omega training center, just like any other omega. They considered me “difficult” because I didn’t bow down to someone just because they were an alpha. A couple of weeks after I turned 18, Deucalion showed up. He said he didn’t care about housekeeping skills or obedience, he was looking for someone who could bear a lot of children.”

“They told him I was strong, but disobedient, and he said he would take care of it. So he took me to his pack house – I didn’t know that’s what it was at the time – but he took me there and basically spent the night raping me. Although since he’d chosen me, it doesn’t count, does it? Then the next day, he introduced me to his pack and told them I was his mate and would be having his children. Then he bit me. I hadn’t known anything about werewolves before him, although of course he showed me the night before. He told the pack I had two moons to have complete control or he’d kill me and one of them; I had control before the second moon and I’ve never slipped.”

Derek sighs, shaking his head, maybe thinking about his parents and the mates in his family. “I’m sorry, I’ve heard stories about bad alphas with omegas, but that doesn’t change the fact about the lies.”

Peter’s voice is calm, as he says, “ _You_ jumped to conclusions, Derek. We were perfectly ready to come and tell you that Stiles was part of my pack and he and I were the only survivors. You were so desperate for a family that you assumed Noah was mine.”

“You could have corrected him the minute he said it! I was on the call, too, and you let him go on about Noah being your kid!” Scott turns to Stiles and shakes his head, “Man, I liked you, but it turns out you’re a fucking liar. And you lied for Peter? For Peter? He’s a killer, he’s no better than your old alpha pack!”

“He’s a million times better!” Stiles yells back, rising out of his chair, hand on his belly. “You don’t know, you don’t know, Scott! I was there to give Deucalion babies and _maybe_ – maybe take care of the pack, but that was secondary, always! I was pregnant from my first heat and then the first heat after I delivered! Peter takes care of me, he takes care of us and he loves Noah more than Deucalion ever did!”

“Maybe. Maybe he does.” Derek sighs and runs his hands through his hair and focuses on Peter. “You can’t stay here. In the pack house. You need to leave and live somewhere else. You can stay in Beacon Hills until after the baby’s born, but then you need to leave, as we agreed previously.”

“Derek, are you sure?” Scott stands by Derek, briefly looking down to acknowledge his alpha, before he continues, “Are you sure they should be allowed to stay until after the baby’s born?  Peter’s a Hale and he’s said this is Hale land. They’re probably here to try to take over the territory from you!”

“We’re not here for a pack war; we’ve both had enough of that shit!” Stiles shakes his head, pressing gently on his stomach. “We’re okay,” he tells Peter before the alpha can ask. “She doesn’t like tension like this, it makes her wiggly.”

“Well then she shouldn’t have a liar and a killer for her fathers.” Scott turns towards Peter and asks, “Derek, are you sure they should stay here at all? After all, we really only have Peter’s word that the alpha pack killed his pack – he could have taken the alpha spark from Ennis and then killed his own pack.”

Peter’s growl is enough to make everyone’s eyes flash. “There’s few things I wouldn’t do if it benefited me, Scott, but killing my own? No, that’s one thing I couldn’t do. My pack was my family, especially as my own rejected me.”

“The alpha pack killed Peter’s pack. They celebrated afterwards, they came back to their pack house, like they usually did, drunk with power.” Stiles sighs, and leans against Peter’s side, exhaustion on his face and in his scent. “When Peter killed Ennis, they knew about it, knew it was his pack from the scent. Deucalion said he’d kill their entire pack, no recruiting, just killing them.”

“Did they know Peter was the one to kill Ennis?” Derek asks.

Stiles thinks for a minute and shakes his head. “I don’t think so, not at first, just that it was that pack, and some wolf in the group.” He snorts and says, “I know I wasn’t sad enough at the news; I’m sure my scent was probably happy because Ennis was a prick. He kept telling me if Noah wasn’t quiet, he’d shake him to shut him up. Never around Deucalion, of course.” Peter puts a gentle hand on his stomach, with his veins instantly turning black.

“As my punishment for not mourning Ennis properly, Deucalion took Noah from me. Just for a couple of days, but I wasn’t allowed to hold him or change him. The others fed him and put him to bed. We both cried the entire time. The twins were… well, they weren’t cut out to be parents, that’s for sure,” Stiles finishes, slumping against Peter’s side, moving his hand away from him.

“Good story, boo hoo hoo. Derek, get rid of him?” Scott demands, arms crossed over his chest, eyes flaring gold.

Derek shakes his head and sighs. “I don’t know yet. Peter’s family, for all he might be, he’s family. Besides, I’m older and smarter now. Our pack’s smarter and we can’t be tricked as easily.” He smiles at Scott and says, “You’re a good second, you knew there was something off. We could control him.”

“You’re not as devious as Peter, you know he’s barely human, Derek, he’s a monster. A killer and a liar, they should both leave now. Take Noah, have Deucalion’s child elsewhere. Raised by Peter, if he even sticks around when they’re out of the territory.” Scott shakes his head, and he almost looks sad when he says, “She’ll be a monster, too.”

Peter growls and it almost drowns out the sound of Stiles’ moan as he clutches his stomach. “Something’s wrong, Peter, something’s wrong, it hurts!”

When Peter tries to drain the pain, his veins turn black so fast, he pulls back. “God, okay, we need to get you to the hospital. Maybe the baby’s coming?”

“It doesn’t feel like Noah, it’s… god, it hurts, alpha!”

Peter tries to take the pain again, but before he can hold for a few seconds, Stiles screams and the front of his shirt turns red. Peter stands back as Stiles wraps his arms around his stomach, groaning and suddenly they all step back when the front of his shirt splits down the middle with a gush of blood. A tiny, bloody hand pokes through, claws slashing at the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was worried about this chapter! And yeah, I left it there.


	12. The Baby's Birth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and Derek talk while waiting for news. Peter sits with Stiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm overwhelmed with the comments from the last chapter, but that's probably from my evil cliff hanger. Thanks, everyone, for reading and responding. It's very encouraging.

Dr. Patel’s clinic is full service for maternity care and deliveries. There’s suites for labor and for the actual birth and rooms for the omega to stay for a night or two, depending on the health of parent and baby. The post-delivery suites have comfortable chairs that pull out into a lounge so the other parent can spend the night with the new family. It’s modern and comfortable and has a five-star rating on Yelp.

There is a surgical suite, one that’s only for the most urgent emergencies. Human patients generally go to a local hospital if it gets bad and the doctor’s shifter patients – they usually don’t need surgery.

Stiles is in the surgical suite.

Peter paces the waiting room, listening for his pack members. He can hear Stiles’ heartbeat going way too fast. There’s mumbled conversations and occasionally orders are called out, medical things he’s not certain about.

“He’ll be fine, Peter, they’ll both be fine,” Derek says, and his heart and scent are both steady; he believes what he’s saying.

“Yes, they’ll be fine,” Peter repeats, a promise and a prayer. “You don’t have to stay; I’m surprised you’re here at all.”

Derek shrugs and looks around the waiting room. A few fairly comfortable chairs and a couple of tables. Magazines that aren’t too out of date. Television not turned on. It should be a comfortable place to wait, if you weren’t in a panic. “I want to be here. You’re pack and you’re family.”

“Hmm, I thought we were just discussing how very much we’re _not_ family. Surely you haven’t forgotten already or if you did, I’m sure the boy wonder could remind you. Where is little Scotty anyway?”

“Scott’s running an errand for me and even if Noah and Stiles aren’t related by blood or marriage…” he sighs and shrugs again. “You’re family, Uncle Peter, for better or worse, we’re kind of stuck with each other.”

“You may guess I’m not thrilled with your second, Derek. If he didn’t attack Stiles…”

“I know,” Derek sighs again. “He’s trying to be protective. After you left, he realized we had been too soft. He’s gone a bit overboard.”

“I’m not sure I feel like we should stay in the state with him, to be honest. I’m sure you don’t want us here anyway.” Peter leans back in one of the chairs as he checks his phone, shoving it back in his pocket. “Messages from the pack, asking what’s happening. I’ll let you respond. What is taking so long?”

“I’ll text when we have news,” Derek says. “They’ll be okay. You guys, you’ll be okay, I can tell.”

“Oh really? You really think so?” Peter sneers, but his scent is full of equal amounts of doubt and hope.

“You seem good together. You seem real.”

“What does that even mean?” Peter asks, shaking his head, looking towards the door of the operating room. “What’s the delay here?”

“It hasn’t been that long and they’re in good hands. And I mean, you two seem like a couple, like mates. You both understand pack and, I guess when he’s himself, he seems like he can be a jerk, just like you,” Derek answers, trying for a grin. “I guess when he’s quiet, it’s because of how he was treated before? By Deucalion?”

“He doesn’t talk about it a lot, but enough for me to understand a little.” Peter sighs and looks at Derek, making sure the younger man is looking at him. “He could have been beaten down and could be broken; that’s what Deucalion apparently wanted. He wanted children, not a partner. I’m trying to make him comfortable that there can be another option – but then again, I don’t want to push that because that would be – I don’t know, I don’t want to push him. I mean, I know it’s fast, but I do care about them both. About the three of them.”

“I can tell. Peter, it’s obvious that you care.” They’re both quiet for a minute, trying to listen into the operating room, hoping to hear something good. “You’re family. And if Stiles is your mate, then he’s family to me as well. And so are your children, whoever you choose as your children; packs are chosen family, so you should get to choose yours, right? And I’ll handle Scott, you won’t need to worry about him.”

They both look up when they hear a baby wail, and Peter stands, moving closer to the door. “That sounds good, doesn’t it? Babies cry when they’re born and when they’re okay.”

“Sure, I think so. You know more than I do about babies.”

Peter slumps down in his chair, staring at the door leading to Stiles as though that’ll make it open. “Right now I feel completely ignorant. About everything.” 

 

The door to the operating room finally opens and Dr. Patel comes out, with Peter meeting her before she gets to the middle of the room.

“How is he? How are they?” He grabs her arm and then pulls back, careful not to hurt the person taking care of Stiles.

“Why don’t we sit for a minute, Peter?”

Peter doesn’t want to sit, but because she’s moving back towards the seats, he follows, sitting on the edge of the chair while she sits on the table in front of them.

She glances at Derek, who quickly flashes his red eyes, apparently code that whatever she has to say she can say in front of him. “Your daughter is fine. It was a little challenging getting her out, what with Stiles’ healing and… well, she’s a strong little girl and she kept fighting all the way out. I guess she must have felt threatened by something?”

“Yes, there was a bit of an argument going on when … when it happened.” Derek doesn’t even need to check Peter’s scent to get the worry and anger barely kept under control. “But she’s fine, right? And how’s Stiles?”

She takes a breath, shutting her eyes as she massages her neck. “He’s a werewolf and his body is trying to heal. That was a challenge actually trying to get the baby out. The baby tore his stomach, everything really, rather seriously and his body tried to heal and we had to do new incisions and work to help him with healing. There was quite a bit of damage, Peter, you need to understand – this wasn’t what we’d normally expect with a birth.”

“What are you saying? Will he be okay?”

She takes a breath and her scent is genuinely sad, not just as a professional, but as a person who cares about them, cares about their pack. “Peter, he lost a lot of blood and he was severely injured during the birth. I’ve never seen this type of damage before, outside of a hunter’s attack. The baby did a lot of damage coming out and I think… I think you should sit with him. And prepare yourself for the worst. There’s a chance he may not make it.”

 

The only noise in the room is the beeping from the machines and Stiles’ quiet breaths. Peter’s used to that part, but the beeping and clicks are certainly different and not welcome. He wants to turn everything off so he can listen to his partner – his mate, the pounding in his chest says so – and will him to recover.

“So this isn’t what I expected,” he tells the sleeping man, as he rests a hand lightly on his stomach, looking to take any pain. There isn’t a lot, just a tiny bit and Peter isn’t sure if it’s because there isn’t any or if it’s the drugs or because of how injured he is. Can a person be beyond pain?

He looks at the monitors, even though he doesn’t need them to hear how slow Stiles’ heartbeat is.

“Darling, I’m so sorry, I didn’t expect this, you have to know it. I thought we’d be fine, I thought we’d have a pack, at least until you were able to have your baby. She’s fine, by the way, healthy and I’m told she’s loud, which given her entry isn’t a surprise.  I’m sorry, I haven’t been to see her yet, I will, I promise.” He rests his head on Stiles’ arm, looking for any of the scent he’s familiar with; now the boy smells medicinal and full of drugs with something else that Peter doesn’t want to think about. “You’ll see her, too, I know you will. You’re way too stubborn to let something like this stop you. I want to say to let this stop us, because you know I care for you and I want… I want everything with you, everything that you’ll accept from me.”

Peter looks at the monitor, and it’s visual confirmation of what he can hear; Stiles’ heart is slowing down, with an occasional skip.

“You need to be stronger, Stiles, I know you are, you need to get better for the children. There’s two now and they need you – I need you, too, if you care about that.”

He looks at the young man lying in the bed, so pale and still. The only scents he gets from him are blood and exhaustion, beyond anything Peter’s smelled before from him. It’s more than what he’s known before from wolves who have had children, although it’s true that Stiles’ birth was certainly much more than Peter’s ever heard of. He’s heard of wolf children who’ve shifted after they were born or were born with their fangs or claws out, but nothing like what they saw. It was a wolf threatened.

Peter rests his head on Stiles’ arm, looking for the scent he knows, sighing as he gives him a quick lick in the crook of his inner elbow. He tries to pull out the pain again, but even that’s fading as his heart beat slows down.

“I don’t know what I can do for you, my love, I don’t know…”

There’s something he’s heard rumors of, but he’s never seen it happen, he’s never known anyone who’s tried it. One of those stories passed down, a legend in werewolf circles. The worst thing that could happen is it wouldn’t work.

“Darling, I need you to listen to me, at least a bit, please.” He rubs his chest where he feels their pack bond, faint and thready. At least he can still feel Derek, alpha and family, strong and steady in his chest. If that’s because he’s loyal or stupid, it can be debated later, but he’s happy it’s there. He takes Stiles’ hand in his own, lacing their fingers together. When he squeezes, there’s a tiny bit of response, maybe. Maybe he squeezes back or maybe Peter’s just hoping. “Okay, Stiles, I’m going to try something, it’s like taking your pain, and it may feel weird. I’m going to try to put some of my energy back into you. You have to, if you can, you have to try to latch on and take it. Pull as hard as you can, don’t be afraid of hurting me, because you can’t. Just grab on when you feel my energy and pull, Stiles.”

Peter shuts his eyes and concentrates on giving everything he can to help Stiles. He latches onto their connection, to their bond and pushes his energy into Stiles, half an ear on his heartbeat as it flutters again. Hopefully that’s him looking for Peter and not him getting worse.

He stifles a groan when he feels a burn in his chest, an ache that reminds him of the fire, of sucking the hot air into his lungs. “That’s it,” he mutters, hoping it is Stiles taking his energy. He knows what it might mean, he’s quite aware of what he might be losing, but this is more important. Pack, family, love. Come on Stiles, latch on and take what I’m offering.”

He can feel it when Stiles starts pulling, it’s a pain like nothing he’s felt before, it’s like burning deep inside his chest and in his brain. For a second he wants to pull back, to stop giving, but then Stiles’ grip on his hand gets stronger and he couldn’t if he wanted to.

Just before it feels like all the air is sucked out of his lungs he throws back his head and roars.

 

“What was that, are you okay? Stiles?”

Dr. Patel and Dr. Gunther both rush into the room and Derek shoves in front of them both. He rests a hand on Peter’s back; he can hear his heart beat, but something makes him want to check and be sure his uncle is still breathing.

The doctors glance quickly at the monitors, pulling out stethoscopes and checking on Stiles. His heart beat is steady and strong, blood pressure slowly rising.

“Peter, how are you,” Derek asks, helping Peter sit up, hand wrapped around his uncle’s neck.

“I’m okay, it’s not important, is Stiles okay, is Stiles waking up?” Peter looks around the room, trying to get his breath back when suddenly Stiles gasps.

He coughs a couple of times, one hand on his chest and the other on his stomach as he sits up, coughing and moaning, rubbing his abused belly.

Peter takes his hand, trying to pull out the pain he feels, but his body is still too exhausted to get anything. He looks over his shoulder to Derek, hoping the younger man will know what he’s thinking.

“Stiles, try to stay still, you’re still healing,” Dr. Patel says, as she helps him sit back, fingers on his wrist as she checks his pulse again. “I’m… I’m so happy to see you awake.”

“’M okay,” he mutters, turning quickly to Peter. “How is she, is she okay? Where is she, when can I see her?” He clears his throat, tilting his head to look at Peter’s smiling face. “Peter? What did you do? Show me your wolf,” he orders.

“She’s fine, we’ll both see her soon. My god, I’m so glad you’re awake,” he answers and flashes his eyes for a second, the effort exhausting.

Derek takes a step back, looking from Peter back to Stiles. “Show me your eyes,” he commands Stiles who quickly complies, eyes their normal gold, and totally unlike Peter’s.

They both turn back to Peter and Stiles whispers, “Peter, what did you do to your eyes? They’re blue.”


	13. New Pack, Made of Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Recovery and talking with the new pack. 
> 
> I know y'all want Scott strung up and left to die, but... Anyway, hope you like.

 

Stiles tries to move closer to the side of the bed, wincing only a little, but of course it’s enough that Peter sees it.

“You’re supposed to be resting,” he states, eyebrow raised. “You and the baby both went through a rather traumatic experience, or do you not remember?”

“I’m _fine_ ,” Stiles answers, rolling his eyes. “I’m great, help me up and I’ll dance for you. How are you?”

Peter takes a few seconds to think, rather than just handing out platitudes that Stiles would see right through. “I’m okay. It’s okay, Stiles, really. It’s not like I had that much of a chance to try out the alpha wolf thing, since I had only my reluctant and tiny pack of three. I’ve been a beta for ninety-nine percent of my life and it’s what I know.”

“Never reluctant, Peter.” Stiles reaches over, wrapping his hand around Peter’s wrist. “Some of it was strange, but… I told you early on, Noah trusts you and so I trust you.” He sits back, eyeing the hospital basinet that holds his sleeping daughter. “I think I should hold her again, don’t you? And where’s Noah?”

“I think you should both try to sleep. According to both of your doctors, that’s what you’re both supposed to be doing. She’s – technically – premature and you almost died, so yeah, sleep is what was prescribed for both of you.” It surely can’t be bothering her if he reaches between them and rubs her cheek with one finger; it should sooth a sleeping baby wolf. And from her sigh, it does.

“My doctors,” Stiles huffs, still smiling as he watches the two of them. “They didn’t do much, it was all you, my wolf. Thank you again, if I haven’t said it enough.”

“They did piece you together so I had a living body to try to heal.” He’s silent for a moment and they both watch the baby as she wiggles in her cocooned blankets.

“I want to unwrap her. I want to hold her again, Peter, and count her little toes. I swear, just looking at her makes my chest hurt – like legit, my milk’s coming in,” he says, and rests his hand on her legs, just so he can feel her move.

“By the way, do you have a name for her? You never wanted to discuss it before she was born.”

Stiles sighs and smiles up at Peter. “I have been thinking about it. You don’t have to if you don’t want to, and we haven’t really discussed anything about the future, but if you want…”

Peter looks away, glancing towards the door turning towards the voices down the hallway. Nothing important, just Derek chewing out his pack. He grins when he hears Scott whimper. “We haven’t discussed the future, but I’ve thought no matter where we go, we go together. The four of us. In whatever way you’d like, pack or something more. If you’d like.”

“Okay, cards on the table here. I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you and I think if you’re not already totally in love with me, you will be soon. I mean face facts, I’m adorable. So pack, plus, okay?”

Peter’s eyes flash and his grin shows a bit of teeth as he listens to Stiles’ heartbeat, strong and steady. “I know you’re in love with me, you’ve smelled like it for the last month or so. And yes, idiot, I’m head over heels for you. I don’t give up my alpha spark to just anyone you know.”

Stiles takes his hand before he chuckles. “Head over heels? You’re always head over heels at least if you’re standing. If you really loved me, you’d be heels over head. Or maybe that’s my role?”

“I think we’ll be able to take turns,” Peter answers, inhaling the sweet smell from his mate. “When you’re better of course. We’ll, umm, try to find out what you might actually enjoy when you get your say in the matter. But we were talking about her name?”

“Her name, yeah. I think you should name her. I get veto power if it’s something stupid like Princess Consuela, but yeah. I named Noah after my dad and I know that technically she’s not yours, but…”

“She had another sperm donor, but she’s our daughter,” Peter says firmly, finger under Stiles’ chin to make him look up. He looks into his eyes and repeats. “She’s _our_ daughter, yours and mine.”

Stiles tugs on Peter’s hand until he’s close enough for a quick kiss on the lips. “Yeah, she’s ours, alpha. So, do you have a name?”

Peter barely hesitates before he says, “If you don’t mind, I think Laurel. You can pick the middle name, I think that would be nice.”

“Laurel? That’s your mother’s name, right? You sure, that should be the name for _this_ baby?” Stiles asks. His face is blank, but his scent has a tinge of guilt that Peter can’t allow.

“Our first son named for your father and our first daughter named for my mother. It has a rhythm that I like, don’t you agree?”

“I like it. How about…” he pauses, looking at the baby in her bed and finally says, “Laurel Marie? Do you like that? Marie was my mother’s middle name.”

“It’s perfect. Marie was my grandmother’s name, Laurel’s mother. It’s perfect.”

“Laurel Marie Hale,” Stiles says, looking at Peter from under his lashes, waiting to see or hear or scent if that’s any problem for the alpha.

“I love it. It’s a beautiful name for a beautiful girl. Thank you, my beautiful mate,” he says, hoping and trusting that it’s welcome.

The way Stiles beams at him, he knows it’s the right thing to say.

 

“Come on, I’ve been out here for over an hour, let me in!” Derek whines from outside the shut hospital door.

“He’s been pacing out there for quite some time, do you think we should let him in?” Peter asks Stiles, brushing a bit of dark hair back from Laurel’s forehead.

She’s almost asleep after nursing a bit; Stiles simply couldn’t let her stay alone in her bassinet, it was just too far away. He nods and says, “Yes, Derek, you can come in,” as he makes sure he’s covered. Peter takes Laurel, scenting her forehead, covering the last of the medicinal smell that’s still on her.

Derek comes in looking like he’s ready for a fight, but visibly melts when he sees Laurel in Peter’s arms. “She’s okay and Stiles is okay and… everyone’s okay?” he asks, sitting in a guest chair he pulls closer to the bed.

“Yes, we’re all okay, Derek,” Stiles says, leaning back against his pillows. He flashes his eyes and asks, “And how are you? You’re here, so I guess that’s something, isn’t it?”

Nodding, Derek looks at the family, one of his only living relatives. “Yeah. I’m still pissed you lied, but I guess I understand it, sort of. Or at least I’m trying to.” He scratches a hand through his hair and sighs. “I still say you could have been honest with me, it would have been easier in the long run, wouldn’t it have been?”

Peter shrugs and holds out Laurel. “Do you want to hold our daughter? Her name is Laurel Marie Hale.”

Derek’s eyes flash for a second as he sits with his mouth slightly open.

He looks, Stiles thinks, adorable and young and in need of family. “Yes. I figured I got to name Noah Konstantyn so Peter should get to name her. If there’s another, we’ll flip a coin or something.” Stiles nods at Peter and says, “He should hold her. If he wants to.”

Derek holds out his arms and accepts the baby, adding his scent to the top of her head. “She’s really pretty, Stiles. I guess I kind of expected…”

“Well don’t threaten her, that’s for sure! And don’t threaten me or Peter either.” Stiles watches Derek as he studies the girl, one gentle finger, tracing a line from the mole high on her cheek to one just below her lip. “What do you think, Derek? About, I guess, everything?”

He runs a hand down her arms and over her belly, everywhere that he can touch and leave a scent. “I think, it you both want, I’d like you to stay here in our territory. I know it was weird and bad and… I’ll tell Scott it’s what we’re doing, but if you want to stay, I’d like you to.”

Peter sighs and raises an eyebrow to Stiles who raises one back. “I can’t say forever, of course, but we’d certainly like to stay until everyone is healthy. Let this little one get on her feet perhaps; it’s not easy being chased while carrying a baby.”

“Why are we being chased?” Stiles asks, eyes flashing. It makes Laurel stir and Derek hushes her with quick kisses to her head.

“We’re not being chased, not now, I was making a point,” Peter answers, holding out his arms to take the baby. “Derek, she’s going to stink like you, and she should smell mostly like us. Hand her over.”

“If you’re staying, then I’m your alpha and I’m her alpha,” he says firmly, letting his eyes bleed red. Stiles turns his head, exposing his neck.

Peter rolls his eyes and states, “You’re a toddler, but if you feel the need.” He lowers his eyes, baring his throat and waits while Derek stands, scenting first him and then Stiles. “You said you’d talk to Scott, and I hope that means explaining that if something threatens the pack, it will be taken care of. I might reach out an olive branch if that seems possible, but if I think something needs to be eliminated…”

“Yes, I’ve told him and I’ll tell him again, and thank you for that. I know you’re more than experienced, but I don’t think I need to tell you not to go out alone; Erica’s strong and pretty wicked herself. She can back you up and I think you’ll enjoy teaching her.”

Before he can answer, there’s more noise in the hallway and the door is thrown open, not quite slamming against the wall.

“Hey, there, you guys miss me? Here I thought I’d be the one making a dramatic entrance, but I got put to second tier!” Cora pushes her way in, with Noah in her arms. She grabs her brother as he stands, shifting the wiggling boy as they hug. “And lookie who I found outside in the waiting room. I think he belongs in here.”

“There’s my big boy!” Stiles calls, holding out his arms.

“Da!” he answers back, struggling in Cora’s arms to get to his father.

“Hold on, pup,” Peter says, grabbing him and swinging him over to Stiles’ side. “Be careful, Daddy’s still a little sore.” He kisses the boy’s temple before letting him go, watching as Noah’s almost careful as he moves into his father’s arm.

“Missed you, baby,” Stiles whispers, kissing his face over and over until Noah squeals and pulls away. “You’re still my baby, I get to kiss you!”

“Did I hear someone say baby?” Kira asks, as she enters the room, followed by the rest of Derek’s betas.

For the next couple of minutes, there’s a bit of noise as everyone grabs a seat, scenting each other and making sure to give Noah some extra touches.

“So what’s the baby’s name? Are you finally ready to tell us?” Erica asks. She got a prime spot next to Stiles on the bed and Peter’s willing to allow it since her feet are off the bed, in Boyd’s lap.

“We finally have a name. This is Laurel Marie Hale.” Stiles holds her up, facing the room. “My stomach hurts a little or I’d do the whole Lion King thing with her.”

“I’ll do it!” Erica says, reaching for the baby, before Lydia intercepts her.

“That’s alright, I have her. She’s already had quite a bit of trauma today, no need to rough-house her,” Lydia states, sitting down with Laurel in her arms. She rubs her cheek against the baby’s, knowing that even though she’s human (mostly), Laurel’s wolf will appreciate it. “Laurel? Isn’t that your grandmother’s name?” she asks Derek.

“Yes. My mother and Derek’s grandmother. Laura was named for her,” Peter answers and everyone falls quiet as that’s something no one wants to address.

“Well, we’re going to need to have another party, of course,” Kira says, smiling at Lydia as she looks at the baby with longing in her eyes. “Now that we know her name and she’s coming home.” She looks around the room and quietly asks, “She is, right? We’re all going home, aren’t we? When Stiles is better?”

“Of course she is.” Lydia almost snarls when Cora takes Laurel and puts her scent on top. “And yes, we need a party, after we clean up the living room. It looks like a butcher shop in there, and I am very glad I missed that. But anyway, Jackson is coming home and he wants to join the pack. I told him to talk with you, but I’m assuming it’s okay.”

“Who’s Jackson?” Stiles whispers to Peter, watching his daughter as she’s passed around from packmate to packmate, each nuzzling her and trading scents. He can’t help smiling, thinking how she’s going to smell just like pack.

“Jackson was Lydia’s boyfriend. Derek bit him and he became a kanima.”

Stiles takes Peter’s hand and asks, “What’s a kanima?”

Isaac smirks and answers, “A kanima is basically a giant lizard-man with paralyzing venom. Lydia was able to cure him and turn him into a werewolf using the power of her awesome love.”

“Wow, that is some pretty awesome love. So he’s coming back and is he your boyfriend still?” Stiles asks the redhead who glares at Isaac.

“Yes, he’s coming back and no, he is not my boyfriend. He does want to join the pack again.” She looks at Derek and raises an eyebrow. “I told him it’s not guaranteed, even though we’ve added new pack members recently. I told him he’d need to talk with you and to ask your permission.”

“He does,” Derek says, looking around the room, making eye contact with everyone. “This is my pack and I am the alpha and while I value your opinions, final decisions are mine. I’ve told Peter that he and his family – his family, Stiles, Noah and Laurel – are invited to stay here and officially join our pack. We need a pack protector. You may have heard them called the ‘left hand’ and that’s been Peter’s role in his packs.” He looks straight at Scott and says, “Anyone have any questions or anything to say.”

“No, alpha,” Scott says, looking down, head turned away.

“Good,” Derek answers with a curt nod. “Anything else? Anyone?”

“God, you act so serious, Derek.” Cora rolls her eyes, leaning back in her seat against the window. Boyd growls quietly and takes Laurel, sharing her with Erica. “Really, how seriously are we supposed to take our pack’s alpha when we know he cries every time he sees ‘Love Actually’?”

“You do?” Isaac bites his lips, trying to get the smile off his face.

“That’s kind of adorable, if you ask me.” Stiles reaches for Laurel, keeping his hands out until Erica hands her over. “What scene, if you don’t mind sharing?”

“I always tear up when Emma Thompson thinks she’s going to get a necklace from her husband and ends up getting the CDs.” Kira sighs and shakes her head, taking Scott’s hand and pulling Noah on her lap. It’s been a long day for the little boy and he quickly shuts his eyes, resting his head on Kira’s shoulder. She was his first playmate, after all.

Derek nods and mutters, “Fucking Snape.”

“It’s not Snape, you asshole!” Cora yells, throwing her coat at him when the door opens.

Dr. Patel enters, crossing her arms over her chest as she scowls at everyone in the room. “Stiles and the baby had a very rough day, you know. And I am aware of the healing power of pack, but they still need their rest. Now, I understand how packs work and how you want to stay together, but if I may, maybe we can say family can stay for a bit more and the rest of the pack waits at home?”

“Yes, they need to rest. Family only.” Derek looks at her and shrugs, pointing at Peter. “He’s my uncle. My dead mother’s brother. I’m an orphan.”

Erica rolls her eyes and mutters, “Really, Derek?” She looks at the doctor and squeezes Stiles’ hand. “Stiles is my brother.”

“She’s my mate,” Boyd says, holding up his hand, showing his gold wedding ring. He turns his head and looks at Cora.

She snorts and points at Derek, then Peter. “Brother. Uncle.” She grabs Isaac’s hand and says, “My husband.”

Isaac holds up his left hand and says, “She owes me a ring.”

Lydia doesn’t look up from her phone, taking pictures of Peter, Stiles and Laurel. “Stiles is my brother.”

It’s quiet for a second before Scott says, “Um, Derek’s my brother, too, so, um, Peter’s my uncle?”

Kira’s eyes go big and she looks around the room, panic in her scent. “Scott and I aren’t married or even engaged or anything, so I guess I’m not really family.” She stands, looking at who should take Noah and says, “I guess I need to leave.”

“Sit down,” Cora orders, turning to Dr. Patel. “We three are in a relationship, it’s new and she’s shy,” she explains, pointing at Kira and Isaac. “It’s like married. It’s a pack thing.”

“Really? We’re in a relationship?” Kira asks, blushing. Lydia had reached for Noah, but Kira sits back down with him.

Cora grins back and says, “We could be.”

Dr. Patel sighs, shaking her head. “Peter, I’m going to trust that you won’t let Stiles get too tired? Seriously, no more than another hour and then everyone out. That way they can both be home soon.”

Stiles holds out an arm for Noah and Kira kisses his head before handing him over to cuddle with his father. Peter carefully moves closer to Stiles, their daughter in his arms. “That’ll be nice, Peter. Getting to go home.”

Peter looks around the room, a rare, genuine smile on his face. “Yes, it’s good that our family will all be at home.”


	14. Epilogue 1 - About three years later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, we have a happy family and pack, so now all we need are epilogues! There's two, this is the first one, about three years later. 
> 
> Stiles and Peter prepare for his heat.

“Babe, you all packed?”

Stiles comes into the living room, pulling a rolling suitcase. It’s pretty small, as Peter has most things packed in his larger bag. “Guess so, since you always over pack. Not like we’re going to be wearing a lot anyway,” he says, grinning as he walks into his alpha’s arms.

“Not during your heat of course, but we have a few days before and after. It’s such a nice spot, I couldn’t just go in and out. Pardon the expression.”

“And if I want you to go in and out?” Stiles tucks his face in Peter’s neck, nipping lightly. “Gods, you smell good.”

He turns his head, giving Stiles more access, happy to bare his throat to his mate. “Just my usual, but your pre-heat is coming on pretty strong this time. Glad we’re taking a long vacation then.”

“Um hm. You think the kids will be okay? We haven’t left them for this long before.” Stiles asks, pulling his head back so he can look Peter in the eyes. “I know they’ll be with the pack, but…”

“But nothing, they’ll be more than fine. Derek and Chris can’t wait for some more Noah time and the girls are taking Laurel out for shopping and tea and everything else that a three year old will love, but not understand.” Peter smooths Stiles’ hair back and brushes a tender kiss on his lips. “Do you want to cut our vacation short? We can, we can go a day later and leave as soon as your heat is done. I just thought you might want some extra time, since we have a cottage right on the water and it’s set up for heats. Extra blankets, little fridge in the bedroom, just like you like. We can sit out on the deck in the evening and drink wine. I’ll get some nice ripe brie like you like, and some chocolates.”

Stiles whines, trying to get closer to Peter, but any closer and they’d be sharing the same shirt. “Sounds perfect, yes, let’s do all of that. And you’ll be okay if I call home and stuff, right?”

This is all pre-heat, probably. Affection and a bit of worry about the children. “Of course, I’ll want to call home, too. I know this is the first time we’ve been gone so long, but I think it’s a good idea. The pack wants time with them and we get time alone, now that they’re a little older.” There’s still something that’s not right, something Stiles is worried about and since he’s not volunteering, Peter will need to poke. “Anything else? You’re not yourself, love, tell me how I can help.”

“There is one more thing, and I probably should have asked or something, but… I went off my birth control.” Stiles takes a step away, looking down and his scent is concerned, but thankfully not scared.

It’s taken a bit, but he trusts his alpha and Peter can still be overwhelmed by how far they’ve come. “Well, that is news. But okay, if it’s what you want. I have no problem with another child, if you’re ready to do diapers again and all that.”

“I should have asked, probably,” Stiles says, but his grin is back and his eyes flash golden. “Probably should have asked Derek, too. You know, cause he’s…”

Peter rolls his eyes and says, “Yeah, yeah, like I’m going to ask my alpha for permission to have a child with my mate?”

“He’s pretty big on not having too much scheduled at once. Remember how he told Erica not to have any babies until after Laurel was born and settled.” Stiles pulls Peter into their kitchen, pouring them each a glass of wine. They’ll finish the bottle with dinner, he’ll make something simple that has no leftovers so he can leave a clean kitchen. “I certainly should have told you and we both could have told him. If not asked, at least told him.”

Peter leans against the counter and takes a sip, Stiles’ favorite wine. It’s a touch too sweet for him, but he can drink it. There’s a couple of bottles already put aside for their trip, along with a couple he likes that are a bit too dry for Stiles’ taste. No worries, they’re werewolves, they can both drink quite a bit. “I would have appreciated a heads-up, so we could discuss it, but you don’t need to ask me for permission. And Derek’ll know when he hears the heartbeat, just like everyone else.”

Stiles chuckles at Peter’s smirk, raising an eyebrow back at him. “People are right, you are kind of a dick, you know that?”

“Maybe to everyone else, but not to you. You know that, right?”

“Yes, my alpha,” Stiles answers and goes back into Peter’s arms where he belongs. It’ll be a good heat with his mate.


	15. Epilogue 2 - The Reyes Have a Baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unexpected meetings while Boyd has their baby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so in this world, when omegas go to their training, they don't see their birth families again, unless their alpha allows it or if the families know each other. 
> 
> Peter's already looking at other packs in case any of his children are alphas or omegas.

Epilogue 2 – 2 years after epilogue 1

  
“Shit, Derek, can’t you go any faster? You drive like an old lady!” Erica slaps the back of his head before turning back to Boyd. “Just a little farther, okay? Don’t push, honey!”

“I’m driving as fast as I can, I’m going 70 and this is a 30 miles an hour zone!” Derek yells back over his shoulder. His betas are spread out over the back seat, quite literally.

“Then why are Peter and Stiles catching up to us?” Erica yells back. “Pant? Is it panting now?”

Boyd just growls, eyes flashing at his mate. “You are never touching me again!”

“They’re catching up because Peter’s still bat shit crazy,” Derek mutters and then looks into the rearview mirror for his uncle. “Oh great. This is great. We’ve got cops on us!”

“Escort to the hospital! Great, pull over, alpha! Please!” Erica says, suddenly remembering she’s outranked, by a lot.

Derek pulls over and notices Peter’s car is just behind the sheriff’s vehicle. “Why’d you wait until the last minute?”

“It didn’t seem like the last minute at the time!” Boyd grunts and growls, clinging to Erica’s hand.

There’s a wait while the sheriff does whatever he’s doing and Derek can feel the pack bonds twinging when one man goes back to Peter’s car. He strains his ears and hears, “That’s my family in there, an omega having a baby! We’re trying to get him to the hospital.”

“I’ll check it out,” a voice says, gesturing to a younger man, “You go check out the car in front. Be careful, Parrish, if you have an omega giving birth.”

There’s a long minute before Parrish calls back, “Yeah, Sheriff, I think… umm… is a baby an emergency?”

 

Peter and Stiles are both out of the car, even though they’d been told to stay inside their vehicle, but that’s not a surprise. “Are you okay?” Peter ask, turning Stiles’ face towards him. His mate is pale and his heart is pounding almost as hard as it did when they had their daughter.

Stiles nods and turns his head back towards the sheriff. “Peter? Peter, I think… I think that’s my dad.”

 

“My child should not be born in the back of a minivan!” Erica declares, trying to push the Sheriff, the Deputy and her alpha away from her mate.

There may be a small noise when her eyes flash gold, but there’s no time to acknowledge it. Derek figures Peter can do the nails in the neck thing if needed.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but I have a feeling your child wants to be born pretty soon.” The sheriff smiles at her, putting a warm hand on her shoulder. “This isn’t our first baby in the back of a minivan.” He turns to the deputy and says, “Parrish, alert the hospital that we’ll have a newborn there in…” he looks between Boyd’s legs, and says, “Half hour, I’m guessing.”

“You know, at this point, amniotic fluid is mostly urine. The baby’s urine,” Stiles says, staring at the Sheriff.

“Great, let’s have a baby and then I’ll torch the car,” Derek says, pacing back and forth, phone in hand. “Since we’re having  a baby on highway 299, do you want me to take any pictures? Saying no is a perfectly good answer, by the way.”

“If you want pictures, get them now,” the sheriff replies. “Parrish, have you delivered a baby before? Either way, come here, you need to be in on this, someday you’ll be doing this alone.”

Boyd growls as the two men push towards the car and Erica quietly rubs his chest and says, “It’s okay, they’re here to help, we’re good, baby, let’s have ourselves a baby.”

 

Things happen fast and it’s not long before the Boyd-Reyes family is three people strong. They have a beautiful little boy, and Erica tells everyone his name is Alex.

 

“Well, that broke up the day,” the Sheriff says, watching Parrish leading the minivan with the new family to the hospital. Actually, to the clinic to have the baby checked out by Dr. Patel. “You guys going to follow now?”

Peter and Stiles look at each other, and Peter takes his mate’s hand. “Umm, Sheriff? I believe your name is Noah, isn’t it?”

He nods and says, “Yes. You’re all from here? I’ve only been the Sheriff here for about a year.”

“Yes, Beacon Hills has been our family’s home for generations. I’m Peter Hale and this is, um, this is my spouse, Stiles. I think you know each other?”

Stiles steps forward, and watches his father’s jaw drop, realization setting in. “Stiles? You’re… you’re Stiles? _My_ Stiles?”

“Dad? Dad, yeah, it’s me!” He throws himself into his father’s arms, and in a minute they’re both crying, hugging like they may never let go. “This is Peter,” Stiles says holding out his hand to his mate. “He’s wonderful, I’m so lucky, it’s good, Dad and…”

“If you’d like, Noah, we’d like to get to know you, to have you be part of our family. The Hales have usually had extended families, with our omega’s family involved whenever possible.”

“Boyd’s parents are probably going to be at the house after tomorrow. They’re really nice, he’s the other omega in our pa… our family, there’s a lot of us and we all live in this great house, and you have grandchildren! There’s three and I hope you want to meet them. If you want.” Stiles’ scent suddenly goes insecure and Peter pulls him close to his side, kissing the side of his head, subtly scenting him to reassure him.

Noah studies the two of them for a minute, smiling and both wolves can smell his excitement and happiness. Beyond happiness, this is the scent of pure joy. “Three grandchildren? Wow, I have a lot to catch up on. I did try to keep track of where you went, Stiles, but…”

“But they don’t make it easy, I know, and for a while it wasn’t…” Stiles shakes his head, turning into Peter’s arms.

Peter rubs Stiles’ back, and gently encourages him to turn back to his father, so the man doesn’t get too worried. He knows fathers, after all, even ones who haven’t been able to be around their children. “There is a lot to catch up on, Noah. You need to meet your grandson, named Noah. And have two granddaughters, Laurel and Tamara.”

“Noah? You named your son after me?” Noah asks, wonder in his voice as he looks between the two of them.

Stiles nods, quickly wiping his eyes. “Yeah. He’s a maniac, runs through the house and he’s really protective of his sisters. He can’t wait for little Alex to come home, he’s planning his own little army.”

“I’d love to meet all of them, if you want. If you want me to be part of your family, I’d be more than honored.” He swipes at his eyes, the same as Stiles. “I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to see you again.”

“It’s up to the alpha when we’re mated and…” Stiles looks at Peter his lips tremble when he says, “My first alpha wasn’t really nice. Not like Peter, Peter’s great. I love him, Dad, like you loved Mom.”

Peter hands over his phone and says, “Please put your number in and we’ll set something up so you can come over and meet everyone. I know they’ll all be so happy to meet Stiles’ father.”

Noah hands the phone back and there’s quick noises from texts. “Looking forward to it. And maybe you can explain all the growling and yellow eyes and things with your friends back there? I’ve seen a lot of strange things with giving birth, but that’s a new one on me.”

Stiles laughs, hugging his father one more time. “Yes, Dad, there’s a lot to talk about, and plenty of time to do it!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to post this without waiting, I wanted to get it out. Thanks so much for all the enthusiasm and comments, I'm really glad people liked it.


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